The partial government shutdown now sure to stretch through into the fresh year will have sweeping core , from stalling importantscientific researchto vasteconomic impacts . But according to theWashington Post , the fond closedown could also affect anongoing investigationby the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) into societal mass medium colossus Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica information scandal .
reference former government officials familiar with the FTC ’s process , the Post reported that the closedown come at what may be a critical time in the agency ’s information - gathering period , which could have significant deduction for the probe :
Although the FTC ’s budget allowed it to continue working through midday Friday , the impending reversion in funding will involve it to suspend virtually all of its investigations and judicial proceeding . That would admit the Facebook probe , grant to David Vladeck , a former film director of the FTC ’s consumer protection bureau .
Preparations for the closure probably have already affected the probe , he sound out . “ The central part of any investigation is the information - gather stage , which is revealing document and talking to people , ” he said . “ It just stops . And it has to contain in an organized way . ”
The closure could put the FTC in a “ debile position against Facebook if the shutdown do agency - imposed deadlines to slip ” when it does return to operations , the Post reported , citing one former functionary .
But the FTC is hardly the only entity probing Facebook ’s shady behaviour and on-going malicious gossip . Facebook facednumerous investigationsinto its conduct this year , including by the Department of Justice and FBI . And just last week , the DC lawyer generalfiled a lawsuitagainst Facebook , claim the societal medium company violated the police force by failing to protect exploiter data .
As the most fiendish public recounting class in Facebook ’s story winds to a close , its chief executive officer and father appear to be doing the Facebook equivalent of “ twitch through it . ” In a lengthyFacebookpost on Friday , Mark Zuckerberg wrote that he was “ lofty of the procession we ’ve made in 2018 and grateful to everyone who has helped us get here , ” despite the fact that his troupe face new scandals on a nearly weekly basis .
From data and security problems to election tampering on its political platform and widespread disinformation and hate on its platform — some of which Zuckerberg himself acknowledged Friday “ can never in full be solved”—it sure seems like Facebook ’s staring down a world of problem in the come newfangled year .
[ Washington Post ]
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