Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has levied a record $5 billion fine on Facebook has as part of a settlement over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The social network will also be required to establish an independent privacy committee that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will have no control over.
The deal comes amid growing calls in Washington for greater transparency and accountability for technology companies, whose power over social movements as well as personal information has increasingly come to be seen as dangerous
“The magnitude of the $5 billion penalty and sweeping conduct relief are unprecedented in the history of the FTC,” said Chairman Joseph Simons in a statement. “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.
“Facebook post published after the FTC’s announcement Wednesday, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We’ve agreed to pay a historic fine, but even more important, we’re going to make some major structural changes to how we build products and run this company. We have a responsibility to protect people’s privacy. We already work hard to live up to this responsibility, but now we’re going to set a completely new standard for our industry.”
The FTC settlement also covers Facebook subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate case announced that Facebook had agreed to pay $100 million to settle “charges… for making misleading disclosures regarding the risk of misuse of Facebook user data.”
