David Dayen of The American Prospect argues that in its recent $5 billion settlement with the FTC, Facebook essentially “bribed” the commission to protect Mark Zuckerberg from personal liability.
He cites statements by James Kohm, the agency’s associate director of the division of enforcement, when asked why Zuckerberg – the CEO and controlling shareholder, with full control over Facebook’s business – was not deposed. Kohm’s responses indicated that Facebook was willing to agree to a larger financial penalty and “more protections for the public” than it would have if the agency had required Zuckerberg to testify under oath, because that would have opened him up to additional litigation.
He also cites Democratic FTC commissioner Rohit Chopra, who stated, “I was frustrated that we stopped the investigation before we really knew what was going on. We did not collect the documents in Mark Zuckerberg’s hands. We did not hear his testimony under oath.”