Facebook shares down 5 percent after news of investigation by US trade regulator

Anca Alexe 27/03/2018 | 10:04

The value of Facebook shares has gone down by more than 5 percent on Monday, after the US Federal Trade Commission announced that it would conduct an investigation into the way the company allowed the data of 50 million users to be harvested by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, Reuters reports.

The investigation by the Trade Commission, which usually only investigates major public interest cases, adds to the pressures from the US and Europe for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, to provide more explanation about the way data was managed.

Facebook’s shares briefly went under USD 150 per unit for the first time since July 2017. In the past 10 days, the market cap of the company decreased by over USD 100 billion, since it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica used the data in the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

Facebook is also dealing with the withdrawal of advertising on its platform from several companies, as well as political pressures from the US Senate and the European Commission, which are both demanding more information about the scandal.