MPs and lawmakers blitz Facebook at $ 5 billion fine imposed on Facebook



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Democratic activists and lawmakers have criticized the $ 5 billion fine imposed by the Federal Trade Commission on Facebook, calling it "radical change," and criticized the agency's regulation.

The settlement, which would have been voted as a result of a political party, garnering the support of the three FTC Republicans while being rejected by its two Democrats, marks the beginning of the end of the investigation by the agency on allegations of mismanagement by Facebook of more than 87 million confidential data the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Although the fine establishes a record regarding the agency's actions against Big Tech, a group of lawmakers, technologists and democratic activists accused the FTC of not doing enough and not not impose a heavier penalty.

"The sad reality is that it does not go far enough. For the company which, last year, generated a turnover nearly 11 times the amount of the fine, the Federal Trade Commission should clearly point out to Facebook and to many other companies of high-tech that privacy protection is their ultimate responsibility, "said Representative Jan Schakowsky, D Ill., Chair of the Subcommittee on Trade and Consumer Protection in the House, said in a statement:" If this information is true, it has failed. "

The consumer monitoring group, SumOfUs, which has been lobbying a range of tech giants, has also hit the FTC.

"That does not count as a consequence of Facebook's flagrant breach and user privacy breach," SumOfUs campaign manager Reem Suleiman said in a joint email statement with Fox News. "Without ensuring that the company has real competition in the market, the FTC has bypassed its responsibilities and imposed a price tag on its silence."

The social network led by its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, achieved a turnover of $ 15 billion in the first quarter and its share price rose when the news of the fine FTC was announced Friday. In recent years, the company has faced scandals related to privacy, hate speech, election interference and slower user growth.

"Given Facebook's repeated breaches of privacy, it is clear that fundamental structural reforms are needed," said Senator Mark Warner, D-Va. "As the FTC can not or does not want to put reasonable safeguards in place to ensure the privacy of data and users, it is time for Congress to act."

Meanwhile, Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Criticized the entire Facebook business model and called for a congressional hearing on the FTC's actions in a series of tweets.

"The FTC is stupid and reckless to rely only on money to punish decades of privacy and profiteering violations," wrote Blumenthal. "This $ 5 billion fine is barely a wrist shot, not even a slap in. Such a financial punishment for deliberate and blatant illegality is a radical change for a company that earns tens of billions of dollars every year."

Senator Elizabeth Warren, of D-Mass., Who called for the dissolution of Big Tech companies like Facebook and Amazon, said the $ 5 billion fine was a "drop in bucket" in a tweet.

Since 2012, Facebook has been governed by a FTC Consent Decree governing its privacy practices. Although critics have claimed that it violates the decree, Menlo Park, California has denied the allegations.

"[FIve] Billions of dollars represent a radical change for surveillancebook, and with no oversight or insufficient structural restrictions, we'll come back here for something else, "said Lindsey Barrett, a lawyer at the Law and Technology Clinic for Communication and Technology. Georgetown University, via Twitter.

It is unclear whether the agreement with the FTC will impose new conditions on Facebook's ability to collect and share data with third parties, or whether there will be personal liability for Zuckerberg and the manager operations, Sheryl Sandberg.

Fox News has contacted Facebook for comments. The FTC declined to comment when Fox News joined him.

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