纽约时报 Facebook面临严厉惩罚 问题是有多严厉(3)（在线收听）

“Five billion dollars is a lot of money,” said David Vladeck,

“50亿美元可是一大笔钱，”

a law professor at Georgetown University and a former head of consumer protection for the F.T.C.

乔治城大学法学教授、联邦贸易委员会消费者保护部门前负责人大卫·弗拉德克说道。

“And at the end of the day, it is not in the commission’s interest to go to trial,

“而且，说到底，委员会对通过审判解决此事并不感兴趣，

because there is no guarantee they will get relief beyond what’s already on the table.”

因为并不能保证他们能藉此获得比已经摆在桌面上的条件更多的宽慰。”

The F.T.C. and Facebook declined to comment for this article.

联邦贸易委员会和Facebook均拒绝为本文置评。

The roots of the investigation stem from a case that Facebook settled with the agency in 2011.

此次调查源于2011年Facebook与该机构达成的一份和解协议。

The company was accused of deceiving consumers about how it handled their data.

当时，该公司被控在数据处理方面欺瞒消费者。

As part of the settlement, it said it would overhaul its privacy practices.

作为和解协议的一部分，该公司表示将彻底改革其对用户隐私的处理方式。

In March 2018, The New York Times and The Observer of London reported that Cambridge Analytica,

2018年3月，《纽约时报》和《伦敦观察家报》报道称，

a British political consulting firm that had worked for Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign,

协助特朗普总统竞选的英国政治咨询公司“剑桥分析”

had used a vast trove of Facebook data to compile voter profiles.

曾利用Facebook上的大量数据来整理选民资料。

The agency then opened an investigation into whether the company had violated the 2011 agreement.

随后，联邦贸易协会就该公司是否违反了2011年的协议展开了调查。

Facebook has apologized for reacting slowly to the revelations about Cambridge Analytica.

接着，Facebook对自己在剑桥分析的爆料一事上反应迟缓进行了道歉。

But the company has said an academic researcher with access to the data

但该公司表示，是公司的一名具备访问这些数据权限的学术研究人员

broke its rules by sharing he data with the consulting firm.

违反了规定，将数据分享给了该咨询公司。

At the same time, sentiment in Washington was turning against Big Tech.

此时正值华盛顿的情绪逐渐转向反对大型科技公司之际。

It had become clear that Russia used online services to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

很明显，俄罗斯的确利用网络服务对美国2016年的总统大选进行了干涉。

YouTube, Twitter and Facebook were being blamed for the spread of harmful content and fake news.

YouTube、推特和Facebook均被指责存在传播有害内容和假新闻的行为。

Politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination,

还有多名政客，目前正在竞选民主党总统候选人提名的佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯也在内，

were accusing Amazon of unfair labor practices.

指责亚马逊对待劳工不公。

Weeks after the investigation started,

调查开始几周后，

Mr. Simons, a longtime Republican antitrust lawyer, was sworn in to lead the agency.

长期担任共和党反垄断律师的西蒙斯宣誓就任联邦贸易委员会主席。

Two other Republicans, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson,

还有两位共和党人，诺亚·菲利普斯和克里斯汀·威尔逊，

and two Democrats, Rebecca Slaughter and Mr. Chopra,

以及两位民主党人，丽贝卡·斯劳特和罗希特·乔普拉，

were confirmed by the Senate as the other commissioners at the same time.

同时被参议院确认为该委员会的其他成员。

All five first met to discuss the Facebook case in December.

去年12月，五人就Facebook一案进行了初次会面。

The commission’s staff said they had found several violations of the 2011 agreement

该委员会表示，他们发现了好几起Facebook违反2011年协议的事件，

and a corporate culture that did not make privacy a priority,

还发现该公司的企业文化并没有将用户隐私放在首位，

according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

据两位知情人士透露。

There was wide agreement among the commissioners

委员们普遍认为

that the charges against Facebook appeared strong and that they should respond vigorously,

面对Facebook面临的强烈指控，他们应该积极做出回应，

according to the two people.

据两人透露。

In the days and weeks after that meeting,

委员们会面后的几天到几周内，

staff members began to discuss a potential fine and other penalties with the commissioners.

委员会的委员和其他工作人员就可能的罚款金额以及其他惩罚展开了讨论。

A fine far above $7 billion appeared to have strong agreement, according to one of the people.

其中一位知情人士透露，大家强烈支持对Facebook处以远高于70亿美元的罚金。