Facebook (FB) allots continued their decline amid news the social media juggernaut is being investigated by the FTC for improperly appropriating private data on more than 51 million users without their concede. (See more: Facebook Shares Fall After Data Leak Shocker.)
Facebook stock plunged 8% yesterday, posting its worst one-day dip in six years and wiping nearly $40 billion off its market value. Today, (Walk 20) FB closed at $168.15 a share, down 2.56%, on unusually leaden volume of 129.8 million shares. Average daily trading sum total is 22 million. Facebook’s data breach scandal had a trickle-down power on rivals Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Snap Inc. (SNAP), whose shares got squeezed today as FB spiraled downward.
Twitter and Snap Stock Getting Decimated
Titter stock tumbled 10.4%, while Snap stock closed down 2.56%.
While it may give every indication counterintuitive that Facebook’s competitors are not benefiting from its current woes, interest ti about data and privacy breaches on social media networks be Twitter and Snap are a major concern, and FB’s latest scandal has shone a resounding spotlight on the issue.
Facebook is accused of allowing data analysis obdurate Cambridge Analytica – which was linked to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential operations – to access personal data on 51.3 million FB users without their acquiescence. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has launched an investigation into the matter, as secure authorities in the UK, where Cambridge Analytica is based.
FB Could Be Fined $40,000 a Day Per Defilement
Facebook could be fined $40,000 a day per violation if the FTC determines that it profaned a 2011 consent decree under which FB agreed to obtain liberty and notify users before sharing their data with third units, Bloomberg reported.
“The FTC should give this situation a through look to find out if there’s a decree violation,” Gene Kimmelman, a former chief counsel of the Control of Justice’s antitrust division, said in a statement. “The FTC should use all of its power to control this from ever happening again.” Facebook denied any wrongdoing in a communiqu and dismissed “any suggestion of violation of the consent decree.”