Facebook to pay $5billion fine to U.S government

Facebook will pay a record-breaking $5 billion fine to resolve a US government probe into its privacy practices.

The social media giant has also agreed to restructure its approach to privacy from the corporate board-level down, the US Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

As part of the settlement, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will have to personally certify the company's compliance with privacy measures.

Failure to do so could result in civil or criminal penalties.

"Despite repeated promises to its billions of users worldwide that they could control how their personal information is shared, Facebook undermined consumers’ choices,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons.