Is It Time for Facebook to Do the Unthinkable?
At first glance, this has been a great year for investors in Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). As of this writing, Facebook's 33% year-to-date stock price gain is nearly three times greater than the S&P 500's return during the same period. Despite the strong performance, it's been a difficult year in Menlo Park, California, as the company finds itself increasingly in the crosshairs of government regulators.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in May to overturn Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a provision that protects social media companies against lawsuits related to content posted on their sites. In a move that raised the ante on earlier threats, Trump announced he would veto the yearly defense bill if Section 230's repeal was not included in the legislation.
As the biggest news distribution outlet in the world, it was likely Facebook would eventually clash with a president who's pugilistic attitude toward anything or anyone who challenges him is part of why his supporters like him, but what's notable is the significant erosion in support for the company from Trump's detractors as well. Early this month a consortium of attorneys general for 46 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the FTC filed an antitrust suit seeking to break up the company.
Source Fool.com
