Facebook expects to be fined up to $5 billion in US privacy probe

Facebook is expecting to pay up to $5 billion to the US Federal Trade Commission in the wake of fake news and privacy scandals.

The social media giant said it could face a hefty fine from the FTC and has set aside billions as possible privacy violations pend.

The agency has not announced its findings yet, but Facebook anticipate payments could be as large as $5 billion.

In anticipation, the company set aside $3 billion in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday as a contingency against the possible penalty.

This has slashed Facebook’s first-quarter net income considerably, but this has not stopped the company’s revenue growing in the same period.

Revenue for the social media platform has grown by 25 per cent in this time frame.

The FTC has been looking into whether Facebook broke its own 2011 agreement promising to protect user privacy.

Investors shrugged off the charge and sent the company's stock up nearly 5 per cent to $190.89 in after-hours trading.

The social network said Wednesday that its net income was $2.43 billion, or 85 cents per share in the January-March period. That's down 51 per cent from $4.99 billion, or $1.69 per share, a year earlier, largely as a result of the $3 billion charge.

Revenue grew 26 per cent to $15.08 billion from a year earlier. Excluding the charge, Facebook earned $1.89 per share.