Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are reportedly negotiating a fine related to last year's Cambridge Analytica scandal. The fine is said to reach up to billions.
The Washington Post reported that both sides are still discussing details of the fine and no details or total amount to be paid have been released to the public yet. However, the outlet noted that if Facebook gets fined in billions, it would be the heaviest penalty the FTC will hand out against a technology firm yet.
So far, the most expensive fine that the FTC handed was in 2012, when Google agreed to pay $22.5 million after complaints about the search engine's privacy practices emerged.
In its report, The Washington Post also said Facebook budged to a couple of demands from FTC during discussions about the fine, adding that if a settlement isn't reached by both sides, the latter may decide to escalate the case to court.
On the other hand, if an amicable settlement is reached and Facebook opts to pay the fine, the ongoing probe against one of the world's top social media platforms may finally come to an end, Engadget suggested.
The FTC started its probe of Facebook on March 2018 after it was reported that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, scraped the information and identities of over 87 million Facebook users.
According to The Verge, the consulting firm accessed data of millions of Facebook users after an app maker collected the information and sold it to the British firm. It is worth noting that before this incident, Mark Zuckerberg's company agreed with FTC that it will not provide deceptive privacy promises to users who join the social media platform.
Cambridge Analytica scraped the details without permission from Facebook users, igniting fears about the social media platform's privacy and security lapses. Furthermore, additional privacy complaints have been raised over the past months, pushing FTC to investigate whether or not the California-based tech giant shared user data with third parties without their consent.
Meanwhile, Facebook continues to grapple with other issues outside of the FTC. Just recently, the tech giant started receiving pressure from multiple health groups and lawmakers regarding the spread of misinformation regarding vaccines on the platform.
A spokesperson from the company said that they are looking into "potential approaches to making educational information about vaccines more easily available and minimizing the harm caused by misinformation about vaccines and other important health issues," CNET reported.
It was previously reported that Facebook is considering to either reduce or completely eradicate content that misinforms audiences about vaccination.
