Germany may act against Facebook

Germany's Federal Cartel Office expects to take first steps this year in its probe against Facebook after finding that the social media giant abused its market dominance to gather data on people without their knowledge or consent. The probe is being closely watched in Europe amid mounting concerns over data leaks of Facebook users, as well as the extensive use of targeted ads by foreign powers seeking to influence elections in the US.

The investigation is not expected to end in fines for Facebook, in contrast to EU probes into Google that have ended in multi-billion-dollar penalties, but the cartel office could require Facebook to take action to address its concerns.