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Facebook Inc promised not to sell stock to cover a nearly $2 billion tax bill and said it will allow employees to cash in their stock weeks ahead of schedule, moving to soothe nervous investors and its own staff as its share price spirals downward.

A registered sex offender has been arrested after the mother of the girl he was dating set up a Facebook sting.

Facebook is weeding out fake "Likes" on its social network that are being caused by spammers, malware and black marketeers as it strives to maintain credibility as an advertising platform. Facebook said the number of Likes, or endorsements by users, on corporate pages is likely to drop by less than 1 percent, on average, after the crackdown.

Facebook Inc. received final approval Wednesday for its purchase of photo-sharing application Instagram Inc., clearing the way for a cash-and-stock deal that has lost about a quarter of its value since an agreement in April.

With the value of its shares down over 50 percent since its highly anticipated IPO, is the company making a hash of the public relations disaster it is now facing; and, just as important, why has Zuckerberg remained quiet about the state of the company?

Facebook and Internet portals such as Google and Yahoo increasingly provide Americans their gateway for news, but the bulk of voters who catch up on current events daily turn to traditional sources, particularly local television stations, according to a nationwide poll.

Facebook's beleaguered stock has lost more than half of its value since its initial public offering three months ago. Facebook Inc. hit a new low of $18.75 before bouncing back to $19.01 - down 4 cents - in morning trading Monday. The social networking icon's much-anticipated IPO turned sour amid technical problems on the NASDAQ stock market and high expectations. The stock has not surpassed its $38 IPO price since its first trading day.

Facebook Inc shares sank as much 4.3 percent on Friday to set a new low, a day after early investors got the green light to sell for the first time. More than 270 million shares owned by the early investors became available for trade on Thursday after a 3-month curb on sales ended. That's more than one-half the 421 million shares sold in its initial public offering on May 18.

Facebook's stock price slide has raised doubts about Mark Zuckerberg's role as CEO. Some say he should hand the reins to a more seasoned executive. The deepening slide in  Facebook Inc.'s stock is fueling talk once considered implausible on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley.

Facebook's stock plunged to a new low Thursday after the expiration of a ban that had prevented some early investors and insiders from dumping millions of additional shares they own in the social-networking leader.