Facebook’s $5 Billion Set-Aside May Be Just a Down Payment (1)

The $5 billion Facebook Inc. has reserved to cover a possible settlement with the Federal Trade Commission may cover only part of the costs it potentially faces from privacy probes and litigation in the U.S. and abroad.

The social media giant is embroiled in multiple European Union privacy investigations into whether it is complying with the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation. It also faces two state-level consumer protection lawsuits, a possible Canadian privacy office court action, a probe by several U.S. state attorneys general and consumer class action litigation, in addition to the FTC’s investigation.

“Facebook isn’t just facing a ...