Facebook looks set to get stung with another big fine over the biggest scandal in its history

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Facebook looks set to get stung with another big fine over the biggest scandal in its history

facebook ceo mark zuckerberg

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

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  • The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to announce a settlement with Facebook on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The settlement will contain a fine of more than $100 million after Facebook failed to warn investors about the Cambridge Analytica data breach.
  • Facebook is also facing a penalty of $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook is set to get slapped with another massive fine - this time from the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A source familiar with the matter told the Journal that Facebook and the SEC are expected to announce a settlement on Wednesday, including a fine of over $100 million for the social network, over its handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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Specifically, the SEC is punishing Facebook for failing to sufficiently warn investors that third parties may have gained access to users' data without their consent.

The timing of the fine is inopportune for the social media giant, which is also staring down the barrel of a $5 billion penalty from the Federal Trade Commission.

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Read more: Facebook's record-setting $5 billion FTC fine was reportedly going to be tens of billions of dollars, and would've held Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible

The FTC penalty has not been formally announced yet, but it will reportedly include a conclusion that Facebook misled its users, for example by handing users' phone numbers - which they had entered for security purposes - over to advertisers.

Meanwhile, the DOJ announced a sweeping new antitrust probe into big tech companies on Tuesday, which is likely to include Facebook in its remit. Facebook is also due to announce its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with analysts generally optimistic about the company's prospects.

Facebook and the SEC did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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