Facebook keeps aside $3 bn ahead of US FTC fine

San Francisco: Battling several privacy violations, Facebook has kept aside $3 billion, anticipating a record fine coming from the US Federal Trade Commission related to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that involved 87 million users. "In the first quarter of 2019, we reasonably estimated a probable loss and recorded an accrual of $3 billion in connection with the inquiry of the FTC into our platform and user data practices," the social networking giant wrote in its earnings statement late Wednesday. In its first quarter earnings, the company posted 26% increase in revenue at $15.1 billion, beating Wall Street estimates. Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 93% of Facebook's advertising revenue for the first quarter — up from approximately 91% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2018.