Facebook Facing Record Fine Over Privacy Conduct

Facebook Facing Record Fine

Last year, the Cambridge Analytica scandal rocked facebook. In it, it was found that Facebook was allowing users data to be sold to third parties without the user’s permission. It was a huge hit to user confidence in the social media site and to date, a number of governments worldwide have already hit the website with various fines.

In a report via SkyNews, however, with the US Government still set to announce what punishment they will impose, rumours are suggesting that the fine will be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) ever issued to a company.

How Big Are We Talking?

In the report, it is suggested that the US Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are still in negotiations over the fine. It is, however, believed that the final figure reached may be astronomical. How big? Well, some indications are suggesting that it could potentially be in the billions of dollars. While this would represent one of the biggest fines to date, it should be noted that the site recently reported $6.9bn of quarterly profits.

An Example Needs To Be Made

In this writers opinion, Facebook has gotten off with this far too lightly so far. The fines imposed by countries like the UK and Belgium have been notable, but hardly significant. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg’s hearing in front of the EU Commission and US Senate was a poor display. Not for his answers, but for the poor level of questioning made.

I do, however, suspect that the US Government is going to play hardball here and I applaud them for it. Social media has been allowed to get away with too much for too long. It’s about time an example was made for them to get their act together!

What do you think? Would you support such a large fine? – Let us know in the comments!