FTC slaps Facebook with record $5 billion fine

The Federal Trade Commission has finally approved a hefty fine of $5 billion on Facebook over the company’s privacy policies.

The settlement has left Mark Zuckerberg on a very rocky position within the company and has immensely damaged it. 

The agreement says that the company should establish  an internal privacy oversight committee, "removing unfettered control by Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg over decisions affecting user privacy.” 

“The magnitude of the $5 billion penalty and sweeping conduct relief are unprecedented in the history of the FTC," said FTC Chairman Joe Simons when announcing the settlement. "The relief is designed not only to punish future violations but, more importantly, to change Facebook’s entire privacy culture to decrease the likelihood of continued violations."

Although, the settlement did not hold Facebook executives, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, personally responsible for the privacy violations. 

Zuckerberg welcomed and settlement in a blog post, and said that the structural change will help the company to grow more. 

"These changes go beyond anything required under US law today," he said. "The reason I support them is that I believe they will reduce the number of mistakes we make and help us deliver stronger privacy protections for everyone."

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