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The Financial Express

Facebook keeps growing despite privacy scandals

| Updated: February 01, 2019 15:20:19


Reuters file photo Reuters file photo

Facebook users have continued to rise despite a series of data privacy scandals and criticism over its attempt to stem toxic content.

The social media giant said the number of people who logged into its site at least once a month jumped 9 per cent last year to 2.32 billion people.

Fears the firm's scandals could put off advertisers also proved unfounded with annual revenues up 30 per cent on last year, according to a BBC report Thursday.

The rise came despite campaigns which urged people to shun the tech giant.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the firm had "fundamentally changed how we run the company to focus on the biggest social issues".

The strong financial performance comes amid continuing concerns over how the social media firm handles users' personal data and privacy after the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal and fears the network has been used as a political tool.

The company's shares have lost almost a third of their value since July when it warned about slowing revenue growth and they remain near a two-year low.

But they jumped over 9 per cent in after-hours trading after profit on Wednesday and revenue beat analyst forecasts.

Facebook's total profit for 2018 was $22.1 billion, up 39 per cent on 2017.

User growth was particularly strong in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, but flat in the US and Canada.

 

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