The New York Times reports the European Union’s General Data Protection Commission fined Meta $410 million over illegal ad practices. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) determined Meta illegally used user data to show personalized advertisements. The DPC fined Facebook €210 million ($223 million) and Instagram €280 million ($191 million). Here’s everything you need to know about Meta getting fined by the EU…again.
The EU fined Meta nearly €1 billion in 2022.
According to TechCrunch, regulatory watchdogs in the European Union fined Meta €750 million in total throughout 2022. The fines included penalties for Instagram violating child privacy laws, Facebook data breaches, and cookie consent violations. However, the company already faces nearly $12 billion in fines in an EU antitrust lawsuit.
Meta has three months to comply with EU data privacy laws or face additional penalties. Austrian privacy rights group NOYB founder Max Schrems initially filed the complaint with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
“This is a huge blow to Meta’s profits in the EU. People now need to be asked if they want their data to be used for ads or not,” he said. “They must have a ‘yes or no’ option and can change their mind at any time.”
The EU continues its crackdown on big tech.
Additionally, Ireland’s DPC recently opened an investigation into Twitter’s recent data leak of private information on over 400 million users. Elon Musk’s shiny new social media giant also has headquarters in the country. The DPC is the European Union’s primary regulatory data watchdog against these massive tech companies.
Consequently, the European Union has seemingly stepped up its scrutiny of big tech in recent years. For example, they filed an official antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard well before the Federal Trade Commission. However, Schrems says that despite these investigations and penalties, little has changed. “On paper, you have all these rights,” Schrems said. “[B]ut, in reality, the enforcement is just not happening.”
