Critics Urge FTC to Crack Down on Facebook

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This organization wants to see heavy fines imposed against the social media company.

In September, Facebook made headlines for a data breach that affected more than 30 million users

This breach has many people unhappy with the social media company. This includes Freedom From Facebook group, a coalition of organizations that includes Democracy for America, Citizens Against Monopoly, and Jewish Voters for Peace.

The group filed a legal complaint on Nov. 15, calling for a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

Freedom From Facebook previously protested the testimony of a Facebook executive at a House Judiciary Committee hearing in July, and thus drew the ire of Facebook, The New York Times reports.

The proposed FTC investigation would specifically examine whether Facebook has violated the 2011 consent decree, a previous settlement the company reached, where it promised to keep users' data private.

If the FTC did conduct an investigation and decided to crack down on the social media giant and impose the maximum penalties against it, that could include a fine of up to $1.2 trillion.

The agency is already investigating whether Facebook's actions in the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March constituted a violation of the consent decree.

The FTC has declined to comment, CNET reports