The FTC has reportedly interviewed Mark Zuckerberg in an antitrust investigation — one year after it fined Facebook $5 billion for privacy violations

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The FTC has reportedly interviewed Mark Zuckerberg in an antitrust investigation — one year after it fined Facebook $5 billion for privacy violations
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pauses while speaking as he testifies before a joint hearing of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 10, 2018.AP Photo/Alex Brandon
  • The Federal Trade Commission interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg under oath this week as part of an antitrust investigation, according to Politico.
  • "We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the Agency may have," a Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider.
  • The interview doesn't mean the agency will definitely launch an antitrust lawsuit against the social media giant, but the testimony could help inform the FTC's investigation.
  • The report comes a year after the FTC fined Facebook $5 million as a penalty over its handling of user data following the Cambridge Analytica data breach.
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The Federal Trade Commission virtually interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg under oath this week in an antitrust investigation, according to a Politico report.

The interview does not mean that the agency will definitely launch an antitrust lawsuit against the social media giant, Politico notes, but the exec's testimony could be used to help inform the FTC's investigation into Facebook.

"We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the Agency may have," a Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider in an email.

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Facebook was previously fined $5 million by the FTC in 2019 over its handling of user data after the Cambridge Analytica scandal surfaced. The penalty was the largest ever issued by the FTC to a tech company.

The reported testimony comes as Facebook remains entangled in a separate antitrust probe conducted by Congress. Zuckerberg faced questioning from lawmakers in a July 29 hearing alongside the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, and Google over whether or not the firms have benefited from monopolistic business practices.

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