Tech giant Facebook is facing an impending fine of $5 billion from US regulators.
The US regulators have approved a record $5bn fine on Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The fine is expected to settle an investigation into the much reported data privacy violations.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched investigation into claims that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy firm improperly obtained the data of up to 87 million Facebook users.
The British company was reported to have had access to the data of millions of users, targeting US voters, helping Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The firm is also reported to have helped some African politicians and governments in their guest to gain and retain power.
Partisan voting
The commission approved the latest fine in a 3-2 vote, according to US media reporting.
Investigations started as far back as March 2018 after reports emerged that Cambridge Analytica accessed the data of millions of Facebook users.
The investigation was to determine if Facebook violated a 2011 agreement that required it to clearly notify users and secure “express consent” for the sharing of their data.
The voting for the imposition of the fine according to US media was however partisan with Republican commissioners voting in favour and Democrats opposing it.
Facebook’s owner Mark Zuckerberg had apologized for the scandal last year.
Source: Africafeeds.com
