Facebook Reports Strong Results
Facebook reported high quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday as it pushed further into video advertising.
"Our community continues to grow and our business is doing well," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "But none of that matters if our services are used in ways that don't bring people closer together. We're serious about preventing abuse on our platforms. We're investing so much in security that it will impact our profitability. Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits."
Facebook is at the center of a political storm in the United States for the ways it handles paid political ads and allows the spread of false news stories. U.S. lawmakers have threatened tougher regulation and fired questions at Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch in hearings this week.
Facebook has said that people in Russia bought at least 3,000 U.S. political ads and published another 80,000 Facebook posts that were seen by as many as 126 million Americans over two years. Russia denies any meddling.
Facebook's total advertising revenue rose 49 percent in the third quarter to $10.14 billion, about 88 percent of which came from mobile ads.
The company said about 2.07 billion people were using its service monthly as of Sept. 30, an increase of 16% year-over-year.
Total revenue increased 47.3 percent to $10.33 billion.