META Meta Platforms Inc

By John D. McKinnon 

WASHINGTON -- A long-awaited multibillion-dollar settlement between Facebook Inc. and federal regulators over privacy missteps has been bogged down by a split between Republicans and Democrats on the Federal Trade Commission, according to people familiar with the matter.

Facebook said April 24 that it was expecting to pay up to $5 billion in an accord with the FTC. At the time, people closely following the talks said a settlement was expected within days.

But over the past month, Republican Chairman Joseph Simons has struggled to win support for the deal from at least one of the panel's two Democrats, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Rohit Chopra, who are concerned the settlement won't be tough enough, according to one of the people familiar.

Consumer groups and others watching the talks say Mr. Simons wants a bipartisan decision to establish the FTC's clout and to serve as a warning to other companies.

A Republican-only decision could expose it to criticism by Democrats and diminish its impact for the enforcement agency, which has sometimes been criticized for being toothless on privacy in the past.

"Joe is trying in good faith not to make it 3-2," said Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy and technology policy for Consumer Reports. "I think Joe's got a tough job and I give him credit for trying to bridge [differences]. That probably explains some of the delay."

Mr. Simons, Ms. Slaughter and Mr. Chopra didn't respond to requests for comment, and an FTC spokeswoman declined to comment.

A Facebook spokeswoman said, "We hope to reach an appropriate and fair resolution."

Alysa Hutnik, who heads the privacy practice at the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, said Mr. Simons could worry that a split along party lines will dent the FTC's reputation as a bipartisan commission.

"I think he does really care about the credibility of the FTC and its mission and does not want that to be eroded," Ms. Hutnik said.

The investigation began more than a year ago after reports that personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users improperly wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that worked on President Trump's 2016 campaign. Since then, other missteps have continued to come to light, adding to the company's headaches.

Facebook, for its part, is eager to strike a deal and begin to put the scandal behind it, according to one of the people familiar and another person with knowledge of the situation.

(More to come)

Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2019 15:44 ET (19:44 GMT)

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