Facebook’s bad year just got worse

The social network has faced a litany of controversies this year: election meddling by the Russians, data misuse and fake news. The platform has been accused of helping violence spread in Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended Holocaust deniers. But amid every controversy, Facebook -- the public company and business -- seemed unscathed. Quarter after quarter, Facebook handily beat sales and profit estimates by Wall Street analysts. A #Delete Facebook campaign didn't have any "material impact" on the bottom line, COO Sheryl Sandberg said earlier this year. When UK regulators issued the largest fine, they could against the company as punishment for the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, the tab amounted to £500,000 ($655,000), chump change for a company that brings in $40 billion a year. That changed on Wednesday, when Facebook missed revenue estimates, offered a weak sales forecast for future quarters and reported a decline of users in Europe. The news sent Facebook's stock free-falling nearly 25 percent in after-hours trading. On Thursday, shares opened down 18 percent, wiping more than $100 billion off its market value. By the close of trading, Bloomberg declared that Facebook had suffered the largest stock market loss in value during a single day ever for any US company. The financial blow is a shock, but it may not be the most concerning part for Facebook in the long run. The loss of users -- the whole reason for the network effect, the reason Facebook can charge advertisers so much money -- is what Facebook needs to overcome.