Facebook shares bounce back to pre-scandal level

NEW YORK – Facebook is back.

Shares in the social media giant are trading around $185 early Friday, returning to the levels last seen eight weeks ago, when news broke that the company failed to prevent major privacy breaches during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in the U.S.

Cambridge Analytica, whose clients included Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, sought information on Facebook users to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the U.S. electorate.

Shares plunged 13 per cent on the revelation in March.

On Thursday, Democrats on the House intelligence committee released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency.

Despite the scandals, Facebook last month reported that first-quarter revenue, mostly from ads, soared 49 per cent.