Facebook watch: The tech giant expects to receive the largest-ever fine for a data breach in the US

Facebook said that it expects to be fined up to $5B by the FTC for its never-ending nightmare of privacy violations.

The penalty would be a record against a technology company by the agency — whose biggest fine doled out to date against a tech company is $22m — and a sign that the US is ready to push back on big tech.

These fines have to affect Facebook eventually… right??

Wrong … Or at least that’s not how lawmakers see it.

A fine even in the low B’s is yet another measly slap on the wrist for a corporation that sees more than 2.7B people use one of its apps each month and brings in $56B in annual revenue.

“This would be a joke of a fine — a two-weeks-of-revenue, parking ticket-level penalty for destroying democracy,” said Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute.

At this point, until regulators stifle Facebook’s ability to share data with business partners, the company will escape unscathed.