The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook have reportedly agreed on a $5 billion fine that would settle the FTC's privacy investigation into the social network.
With Facebook having reported $15 billion in revenue last quarter, the $5 billion fine would amount to one month's worth of revenue.
The FTC voted 3-2 to approve the settlement this week, with three yes votes from Republican commissioners and two no votes from Democrats, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing anonymous sources. Democrats on the commission were "pushing for tougher oversight," the Journal wrote.
The FTC hasn't announced the deal publicly.
"The matter has been moved to the Justice Department’s civil division, and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize," the Journal wrote. "Justice Department reviews are part of the FTC’s procedure but typically don’t change the outcome of an FTC decision."
The settlement is "expected to include other government restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy," but the Journal didn't get details on what those restrictions will be.
FTC officials had reportedly discussed whether to hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally accountable for his company's privacy failures, but there was no word on any punishment for Zuckerberg today.
The FTC investigation began in March 2018 after revelations that up to 87 million users' information was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that did work for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. The investigation focused on whether Facebook violated the terms of its 2011 settlement with the FTC, which prohibited Facebook from misrepresenting the privacy or security of user information and required Facebook to get consumers' express consent before making changes that override their privacy settings.