Florida Senate bill could increase speed limit on interstates, turnpikesPleasant start to Spring with some evening showers
Florida Senate bill could increase speed limit on interstates, turnpikes Senate Bill 462, could soon raise speed limits on Florida’s turnpikes and interstates from 70 to 75 miles per hour.
The Weather Authority Pleasant start to Spring with some evening showers The Weather Authority is tracking a breezy Thursday with isolated rain expected, culminating into a pleasant beginning of Spring.
wink news Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up Mar. 20 While construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen, in this web-exclusive feature, knows the best way to traverse the roadways.
Cyclist and dog hit by car in Charlotte County A routine bike ride in Charlotte County turned into a nightmare for Raymond Weiler and his dog, Tater after a crash.
Byron Donalds talks campaign goals for Florida governor race in 2026 U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is gearing up for his campaign to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2026.
CAPE CORAL 5th rendition of Punk Prom to be hosted at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral Punk Prom, the annual gathering of the local alternative scene, has found a new home.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for March 19, 2025 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for March 19, 2025. This is a weekly WINK News segment.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda council approves ICE partnership amid community debate Punta Gorda’s City Council made a decisive move by unanimously approving an agreement between the local police department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
FORT MYERS Leaders and lawmakers respond to FMPD ICE vote in Fort Myers A tied 3-3 vote in the Fort Myers City Council meeting stopped the FMPD from assisting ICE and set off a political powder keg.
BABCOCK RANCH Palmetto Landing seniors feel misled by DR Horton on hurricane safety Residents of Palmetto Landing are raising concerns over construction issues with their homes built by DR Horton.
FORT MYERS Community shows support for councilwoman after vote against ICE agreement A group gathered at a community meeting in Fort Myers to support City Councilwoman Darla Bonk, who voted against an agreement allowing ICE training for FMPD officers.
FORT MYERS BEACH Spring break chaos: Teen’s ear bitten off in Fort Myers Beach fight A violent altercation on Fort Myers Beach has resulted in an 18-year-old facing serious charges.
SANIBEL Sanibel study seeks 400 volunteers to unravel red tide health impacts A new study aims to solve the mystery surrounding red tide, and scientists are seeking 400 volunteers to participate.
NAPLES Naples residents concerned over NOAA cuts affecting hurricane forecasts Concerns are rising in Naples about recent NOAA workforce cuts and their potential impact on the upcoming hurricane season.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral’s new water taxi offers scenic escape from Fort Myers Beach traffic Beachgoers in Cape Coral have a new way to avoid Fort Myers Beach traffic and enjoy a scenic trip at the same time.
Florida Senate bill could increase speed limit on interstates, turnpikes Senate Bill 462, could soon raise speed limits on Florida’s turnpikes and interstates from 70 to 75 miles per hour.
The Weather Authority Pleasant start to Spring with some evening showers The Weather Authority is tracking a breezy Thursday with isolated rain expected, culminating into a pleasant beginning of Spring.
wink news Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up Mar. 20 While construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen, in this web-exclusive feature, knows the best way to traverse the roadways.
Cyclist and dog hit by car in Charlotte County A routine bike ride in Charlotte County turned into a nightmare for Raymond Weiler and his dog, Tater after a crash.
Byron Donalds talks campaign goals for Florida governor race in 2026 U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is gearing up for his campaign to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2026.
CAPE CORAL 5th rendition of Punk Prom to be hosted at Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral Punk Prom, the annual gathering of the local alternative scene, has found a new home.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for March 19, 2025 Here are some of Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for March 19, 2025. This is a weekly WINK News segment.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda council approves ICE partnership amid community debate Punta Gorda’s City Council made a decisive move by unanimously approving an agreement between the local police department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
FORT MYERS Leaders and lawmakers respond to FMPD ICE vote in Fort Myers A tied 3-3 vote in the Fort Myers City Council meeting stopped the FMPD from assisting ICE and set off a political powder keg.
BABCOCK RANCH Palmetto Landing seniors feel misled by DR Horton on hurricane safety Residents of Palmetto Landing are raising concerns over construction issues with their homes built by DR Horton.
FORT MYERS Community shows support for councilwoman after vote against ICE agreement A group gathered at a community meeting in Fort Myers to support City Councilwoman Darla Bonk, who voted against an agreement allowing ICE training for FMPD officers.
FORT MYERS BEACH Spring break chaos: Teen’s ear bitten off in Fort Myers Beach fight A violent altercation on Fort Myers Beach has resulted in an 18-year-old facing serious charges.
SANIBEL Sanibel study seeks 400 volunteers to unravel red tide health impacts A new study aims to solve the mystery surrounding red tide, and scientists are seeking 400 volunteers to participate.
NAPLES Naples residents concerned over NOAA cuts affecting hurricane forecasts Concerns are rising in Naples about recent NOAA workforce cuts and their potential impact on the upcoming hurricane season.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral’s new water taxi offers scenic escape from Fort Myers Beach traffic Beachgoers in Cape Coral have a new way to avoid Fort Myers Beach traffic and enjoy a scenic trip at the same time.
In this March 26, 2018 photo, a man poses for photos in front of a computer showing Facebook ad preferences pages in San Francisco. Facebook is giving its privacy tools a makeover as it reels from criticisms over its data practices and faces tighter European regulations in the coming months. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) It’s a tough time for the world’s largest social network. As fallout continues from Facebook’s (FB) Cambridge Analytica scandal, Playboy and Will Ferrell have become the latest big names to delete their Facebook accounts. The platform is being sued by users, investors and advertisers in a series of events that has caused the company to shed $73 billion in value in the past weeks. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest challenges Facebook is grappling with. 1. Federal probe The Federal Trade Commission has dinged Facebook in the past for being deceptive about users’ privacy. The 2012 settlement was essentially a promise by Facebook to do better. Now the FTC is looking into the matter, and the fine could be hefty. Heights Securities analyst Stefanie Miller, in a note, projected it could land between $1 billion to $2 billion. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation, but it has previously said it “remain[s] strongly committed to protecting people’s information.” 2. Four state attorneys general investigate Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced she was launching an investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica the same day the story was reported. Attorneys general from New York, Connecticut and Mississippi have since joined. 3. 37 AGs demand answers Attorneys General from 37 states have written to CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking for detailed information on Facebook’s privacy practices. “Our top priority is determining whether Facebook violated their own ‘Terms of Service’ or data breach notification laws,” said Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro, who is leading the coalition. 4. Cook County sues Illinois’ Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago, sued Facebook on Friday, claiming the platform broke Illinois anti-fraud laws when it violated users’ privacy. 5. Lawsuit over political ads As regulators investigate, individuals are taking out their grievances in the courts. At least seven have filed lawsuits since last week, including three from users and more from investors and a fair-housing group. Maryland resident Lauren Price filed a lawsuit last week claiming she saw political ads during the 2016 presidential campaign and that she was one of the 50 million users whose information was illegally obtained by Cambridge Analytica. 6. Lawsuit over Messenger On Tuesday, three Facebook Messenger users filed a lawsuit in federal court in Northern California, claiming Facebook violated their privacy when it collected text and call information. The service has admitted that it kept logs of text messages and calls for some Android users who signed up to use Facebook Messenger as their texting service, but it maintains it did nothing untoward. 7. Activist investors go to court A spate of Facebook investors have also joined the legal fray. Robert Casey and Fan Yuan sued the company last week for the monetary losses they incurred when its stock tanked. Both lawsuits are seeking class action status. Another investor, Jeremiah Hallisey, filed a suit on behalf of Facebook against the company’s management. It accuses Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the company’s board of violating their fiduciary duty when they didn’t prevent and didn’t disclose the gathering of data from users’ profiles. 8. Facebook stock plummets “I expect lawsuits to come out of the woodwork,” said Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer at GBH Insights, adding: “It’s probably going to be a stock stuck in the mud in the next few months.” The company has lost $73 billion in value in the 10 days since the Cambridge Analytica story broke on March 17. Facebook’s stock price stabilized on Monday, after the FTC confirmed its investigation, then started to climb up. Its Thursday closing value of $159.79 is still 17 percent below its peak last month. 9. Housing discrimination accusations A lawsuit filed on Tuesday by fair-housing advocates claims that Facebook is breaking federal laws in permitting targeted ads that exclude certain groups. The National Fair Housing Alliance and affiliated groups filed a lawsuit that seeks to change its advertising platform. They claim Facebook allows exclusions of people with disabilities and people with children, which is also illegal. The group said Facebook accepted 40 ads that excluded home seekers based on their gender and family status, the Associated Press reported. 10. Advertising scrutiny The housing lawsuit is the latest in a series of criticisms about Facebook’s advertising practices, stemming from the massive trove of user data that permits targeting ads to very particular groups. In 2016, ProPublica documented that the platform identified people with “affinity” for Hispanic or African-American topics, and allowed advertisers to post ads that wouldn’t be seen by people in those groups. Excluding people based on ethnic identity is illegal for certain types of ads, like housing and jobs. Even though Facebook’s “ethnic affinity” designation isn’t the same as race — which it doesn’t collect — the social platform stopped allowing that category for housing ads late last year. Facebook’s platform has also come under fire for allowing companies to exclude workers over 40 from seeing job ads—another act that could be illegal. 11. Users start to #DeleteFacebook A small but vocal number of users have deleted their Facebook accounts, giving rise to the #DeleteFacebook movement. Actor Will Ferrell is the latest to join, describing his intention in a post on Tuesday. “I can no longer, in good conscience, use the services of a company that allowed the spread of propaganda and directly aimed it at those most vulnerable,” Ferrell wrote. Cher, Elon Musk, Jim Carrey, Tea Leoni and Adam McKay have also deleted their accounts, as has Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. It’s unclear whether the movement will have legs: breaking up with Facebook is hard, given how intertwined it is with the rest of our digital services. However, a concerted drop in its user base could be the gravest threat for the social media network. It’s already struggling to retain younger users, with 2 million projected to leave Facebook this year according to a recent study from eMarketer. Facebook still boasts 2 billion users—a quarter of the world’s population. But when the company revealed in January that users had cut their time on the platform in response to changes in the news feed, investors sold off the stock, sinking its value by 5 percent. 12. Advertisers bail A handful of advertisers have hit pause on their Facebook relationship. Sonos, the smart headphone maker, said it would halt ads for a week. Software company Mozilla and Germany’s Commerzbank have also stopped ads on Facebook. Still, the number of marketers leaving is minuscule compared the ones who aren’t, and observers doubt there’ll be an exodus. “Facebook has proven itself to be a very powerful tool for creating community and for legitimate marketing activities,” said Lazar. 13. Former users hide With Facebook users (and former users) increasingly concerned about the data they reveal, some companies are making it easier for them to cloak their activities online. Mozilla on Tuesday introduced the Facebook container extension, a tool that lets users isolate their Facebook activities from the rest of their web browsing. “This makes it harder for Facebook to track your activity on other websites via third-party cookies,” the company said. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy group, has seen a surge in the number of people downloading Privacy Badger, a browser extension that blocks cookies and ads that track users. The extension has 2 million users to date, the group said. “Our data suggests that we had a spike in daily installs of Privacy Badger on Chrome since March 18 — somewhere around a 50 percent increase to double the installs we had,” said Karen Gullo, an analyst with the EFF. The Guardian first reported on Cambridge Analytica’s data harvesting on March 17. Large numbers of people opting out of Facebook (and other) tracking risks making its highly targeted ads less effective in the long term and could undermine the way the company makes “substantially all” of its money. 14. The “R” word As Zuckerberg prepares to go before Congress, a growing number of activists and even some lawmakers have called for tighter regulation of tech companies and even a broad-based privacy law, like the one set to take effect in the EU on May 25. Zuckerberg has indicated he would be open to the right kinds of regulations — which presumably means regulations that don’t hurt Facebook’s business. While the current climate in Washington seems to preclude heavier rules, the breadth of Facebook’s data-mining scandal and its involvement with alleged election interference by Russians means all options are still on the table. “It’s a scary, hand-holding time for Zuckerberg, Facebook and its investors,” said Ives, chief strategy officer at GBH Insights. “For an industry that’s never been regulated, to go from no regulation to heavy regulation, that’s not a good scenario.