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Why social media giant Facebook faces a record $5bn fine

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Social media company Facebook will be fined a record-breaking $5 billion (拢4bn), reports in the US media say.

It's after an investigation into how Facebook shared some of its users' personal information.

If confirmed it will be the largest ever fine given to a technology company in the US, but some people don't think it's tough enough.

The claims are that Facebook shared the information of 87 million users with the British political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica.

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As well as the fine, the settlement could include new rules on how Facebook uses personal or private information in future.

US media say the fine still needs to be agreed in the US justice system, but it's unclear how long this may take.

Facebook and the officials who've agreed the fine have told the 麻豆官网首页入口 they had no comment on the reports.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office fined Facebook 拢500,000 last year for a "serious breach of data protection law".