Facebook dodged a bullet from the F.T.C. He faces a lot more.



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Facebook said Saturday in a statement that "by updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve what is best about it". The company added, "We want to work with governments and policymakers to design the kind of smart regulation that fosters competition., Encourages innovation and protects consumers."

Facebook is the centerpiece of a more general calculation that the technology sector faces, as governments begin to collaborate in their response. The European Commission shared information with the F.T.C. and the Department of Justice about his previous investigations on Google. And this spring, Ireland's leading privacy regulator, who investigated Facebook and Google, met with representatives in Washington.

In May, an annual meeting of antitrust regulators from around the world was transformed into a four-day strategy session focused on the technology sector. Joseph Simons, Chief of the United States Supreme Court, and Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Supervision at the Department of Justice, were among those who attended the event in Colombia.

"This is good news that US agencies are embarking on this discussion," said Andreas Mundt, chief antitrust enforcement officer in Germany, who participated in the organization of the meeting. In February, he released one of the first antitrust decisions against Facebook. "It's clear that these are globally active companies, so a global approach is not a bad idea."

Mr. Mundt and other regulators believe that the actions against Facebook and its industry peers must go beyond fines. Instead, many authorities want to impose structural changes to the way companies operate, for example by collecting data and selling digital advertising.

After the F.T.C. According to this decision, Facebook's next sanctions should come from Europe, where the authorities have always been stronger than the US authorities in the technology sector.

The Irish Data Protection Office has opened 11 ongoing investigations against Facebook for violations of the European Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulation or the G.D.P.R. (Ireland has jurisdiction over Facebook under the Privacy Act because its European head office is located in Dublin.) At least two verdicts against the company are likely in the coming months .

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