YouTube's Fine Criticized As Proof US Government Is 'Not Serious' About Big Tech Crackdown

YouTube's $170 million fine for illegally collecting data on children "shows the US government is not serious about a Big Tech crackdown," argues an article at CNBC:

The FTC's new settlement with YouTube over alleged violations of child privacy rules is just a fraction of the revenue its parent company generates in a single day. Shares of Google parent company Alphabet were up following news of the settlement, just like shares of Facebook after its record FTC fine. The action shows the U.S. government is not prepared for a Big Tech crackdown that will fundamentally alter the business.

Momentum is building in Washington to crack down on Big Tech's most free-wheeling practices: the Department of Justice is conducting a broad review of tech companies in addition to a reported antitrust investigation of Google, and Facebook disclosed a new antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission in July. But the meager penalties imposed on these companies in recent years, when compared with their size, shows the U.S. government is not yet prepared to take actions that will fundamentally alter the industry...

Wednesday's announcement marks the third agreement the FTC has reached with Google since 2011, when it charged the company with using "deceptive" privacy practices at the launch of its now-defunct social network. In 2012, the agency hit Google with a $22.5 million penalty, its highest ever for a violation of a commission order at the time, over charges that it misrepresented its ad-targeting practices to consumers. But in 2019, Google appears none the worse for wear. Google's stock price has grown more than 260% since the time of its historic 2012 FTC penalty and the company's now worth more than $800 billion. Revenue and profits have both more than doubled.
The article also notes that "Despite the penalties and noise from politicians about cracking down, Facebook's stock is up more than 40% so far this year," arguing that "the agencies that have so far had the power to force Big Tech to make real changes have opted for more incremental adjustments."

Long-time Slashdot reader AndrewFlagg has another suggestion:
Stop the madness of fines. Just sentence the leadership to jail and prison time... Don't fine the companies. That just hurts the stockholders who really don't know whats going on in the board room...