Why a multibillion-dollar FTC fine would barely faze Facebook | The Verge

Also see Facebook jumps as Stories users and ads show promising growth | CNBC

"On an earnings call, the company said the $3 billion figure was at the low end of its expectations for a fine. Ashkan Soltani, who used to work at the FTC, suggested that Facebook might have taken the unusual step of pre-announcing a fine as a negotiating tactic — anchoring the price at a level that the company finds acceptable, while discouraging regulators from asking for any more.

In The Information, Ashley Gold compares a potential $3 billion fine to some of the other big speeding tickets issued against tech companies. It would be exponentially bigger than the biggest fine issued by the FTC to date — $22.5 million, against Google in 2012. But it would be smaller than European actions against Big Tech. The EU issued a $15.3 billion fine against Apple in 2016, for tax evasion; and a $5 billion fine against Google last year, for antitrust issues. And it would pale next to fines levied against banks — such as the $16.7 billion fine the Justice Department issued against Bank of America in 2014 for defrauding consumers during the financial crisis."

Why a multibillion-dollar FTC fine would barely faze Facebook | The Verge