No it isn't. People make arbitrary statements like this all the time when talking about big numbers and they often do not make sense. $5B is ~1/6 of their net income and a bit more than 5% of their revenue. That is a large number. It's not a death sentence, but it is a big hit.
Metaphorical pennies. I don't see how a 1 time charge of 1/6 of one year's net income is that big of a charge. Make it a whole year of profit and now you're talking.
$5B is more than the purchase price of Oculus and multiple years of VR content investment.
The price of these acquisitions isn't relevant to the amount of "pain" this fine does or does not inflict on FB.
In terms of trying to rationalize how much $5B matters to them I think this is a perfectly reasonable comparison.
Not sure why you’re downvoted. But sadly this is true. Fb knows it is financially better off to pay the fine than change their operations. It just goes to show how capitalistic the US really is and how tolerant this country is towards unprecedented market power. No way it will fly in the EU. And that is why there is no FB in the EU.
Though it does tend to have fewer regulations than the EU, the claim that this settlement has resulted in no operational changes does not appear to be true.
I read the linked PR--I am curious to see if these restrictions really protect consumers. My cynical side imagines these restrictions were written with input from FB and that they will find ways around them. But I'm cautiously hopeful.
There was almost certainly some negotiation- it’s a voluntary agreement. But if they can’t or won’t hold themselves to it the FTC and the courts can and will enforce it and that 5B could easily become far bigger.