This is how the U.S. government can punish Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg escaped unscathed after testifying before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Tuesday as he regaled legislators with the idealistic vision of the company he launched in his dorm room.

But despite the theatrics of congressional hearings, there is a way for the government to punish Facebook, and it lies with the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2011, Facebook had another data privacy scandal over its privacy controls for users. That led to a settlement with the FTC, where the company agreed to enter into what’s called a consent decree. It’s essentially a form of probation for the company that requires it to follow certain guidelines related to its users' privacy and agree to regular privacy audits by the FTC.

Per the FTC statement in 2011, Facebook agreed to "protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' information," among other things. That might sound like boilerplate legal language, but it could ultimately help the FTC bring fines against the company.

The consent decree lasts 20 years, and comes with steep fines for violations. The maximum civil penalty for each violation, which would mean each of the 71 million Americans who had their data exposed to Cambridge Analytica, is $41,484.

The Washington Post estimates that the potential fines as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal could theoretically reach trillions of dollars, but Facebook maintains it hasn’t violated the agreement. The FTC has confirmed that it is investigating Facebook for potential violations of the consent decree.

This segment originally aired April 10, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.