Advocacy Groups Urge FTC To Break Up Facebook Over Privacy Violations

Last week, it was reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could impose record-setting fines against Facebook for its role in last spring’s Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. The regulatory agency believes Facebook may have violated a 2011 agreement that required it to obtain user consent before sharing their data. However, a group of advocacy organizations believe that the fines may not go far enough, and are calling for the FTC to actually break up Facebook.

The groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Open Market Institute, Common Sense Media and more, wrote a letter calling for the government to take a major role in Facebook’s operations. They want regulators to handle everything from reforming its hiring practices to splitting it up over privacy violations.

“Given that Facebook’s violations are so numerous in scale, severe in nature, impactful for such a large portion of the American public and central to the company’s business model, and given the company’s massive size and influence over American consumers, penalties and remedies that go far beyond the Commission’s recent actions are called for,” the groups wrote.

This represents one of the boldest proposals ever to reign in Facebook. It’s also part of a growing movement to bring the social media giant at least partially under government supervision. In the past, Facebook has expressed an openness to regulation — but it may not have bargained for getting broken up entirely.

Advocacy Groups Urge FTC To Break Up Facebook Over Privacy Violations

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