Facebook now under the microscope as other federal agencies jump into inquiries

Facebook faces a rough road ahead as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have joined the investigation being carried out by the Department of Justice (DoJ) over the company’s statements in response to the misuse of its users’ information by the political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica acquired the personal information of over 71 million Americans, distributed by Facebook, to allegedly influence the decisions of voters and affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Facebook fears a scenario in which the government decides that the company didn’t reveal enough to investors and investigators about the misappropriation of user data. Another larger fear is that the deal Facebook made with Cambridge Analytica could be in violation of the terms of an earlier settlement with FTC.

With so many government agencies picking apart Facebook’s testimony and scrutinizing every aspect of the data scandal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and higher management could be headed towards rough seas.  Facebook stated that it was fully cooperating with all the agencies and was committed to seeing the investigation through. Meanwhile, Cambridge Analytica was pushed into bankruptcy following the investigations from agencies in the U.S. and U.K. over its misuse of personal information of users for political benefit.

Facebook, on the other hand, is not thought likely to suffer a similar fate, as its stock price has recovered from the fallout of the scandal and the resulting investigation.