Facebook could face 'record-setting' fine from FTC

Facebook could soon set a new record -- just not the good kind.

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly considering a "record-setting" fine for the social network, as the result of its investigation into Facebook's privacy practices following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed Facebook had exposed the personal data of millions of users.

The FTC confirmed it had opened an investigation into Facebook in March.

Now, The Washington Post reports that investigation could result in a massive fine for the company.

"The penalty is expected to be much larger than the $22.5 million fine the agency imposed on Google in 2012," according to The Post. That fine, while not the largest ever imposed by the FTC, was the body's largest fine for a privacy violation.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. An email to the FTC's public affairs office returned a message that the office is closed due to the government shutdown.

It's not clear just how large the fine could be. Facebook took in more than $13 billion in revenue last quarter. But a large fine would be one of the strongest rebukes yet of the company after Cambridge Analytica and other privacy scandals. Mark Zuckerberg has so far appeared before Congress and answered questions from European lawmakers, but in both cases emerged from the questioning relatively unscathed.

Facebook has been sanctioned for its privacy practices in the past. In 2011, the company reached a settlement with the FTC that "bars Facebook from making any further deceptive privacy claims."

UPDATED January 19, 2019, 11:15 a.m. PT with responses from Facebook and the FTC's public affairs office.