T E C H N O L O G Y
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (2)
19Edited by
Jeff MuskusThe company’s privacy settlement with the FTC
gave it cover on antitrust and other issuesSo Far, the Techlash
Has Only Made
Facebook Stronger
When Facebook Inc. agreed to settle a pri-
vacy complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission for $5 billion last month, both par-
ties acted like the news was a big deal. The FTC
noted it was a record federal penalty, while the
company released a video of Chief Executive
Officer Mark Zuckerberg solemnly telling employ-
ees a new era of regulatory compliance was at
hand. Leaving aside that the fine was hardly a
serious blow—last year alone, Facebook’s profitBloomberg Businessweek August 19, 2019topped $22 billion—the settlement is great news
for Zuckerberg in another way. The fine print will
likely help Facebook cement its dominant position
in social media advertising, just as the FTC begins
an antitrust investigation of the company.
Facebook’s most valuable resource is its data.
Every click, comment, and even scroll from its
2.5 billion users is incorporated into its ideas
about what people like and want. The company
combines that knowledge with information