August 4, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission’s unprecedented $5 billion fine against Facebook is the latest in a string of troubles for the social media giant.
Washington wants more accountability for Facebook, which has suffered privacy issues in the last 18 months, including its failure to tell up to 87 million users that their information had been accessed by a political consulting firm.
In addition, the Justice Department has begun a major antitrust review of Facebook and other Big Tech companies to determine if they engaged in practices that “reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.”
In a recent Harris Poll on the reputations of well-known companies, Facebook’s reputation dropped 43 points. Meanwhile, the NYSE FANG+ Index, which includes Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, remains below its June 2018 all-time high.
To learn more about the timing of government crackdowns on companies, read “The Timing and Character of Investment Legislation.”
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The Socionomist enables you to see trend-shaping waves of social mood, as reflected by the stock market — and capitalize on them. The June issue looks at phases of social mood and features a “Research Roundup,” which highlights five academic studies that shine a light on important aspects of socionomic theory. Mood Riffs topics include “quiet luxury,” loneliness, the Writers Guild strike and efforts by countries to trade in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Read the June issue when you become a Socionomics Premier Member.
