Meta fines 1.2 billion euros for violating EU rules

The Irish Commission for the Protection of Data, operating on behalf of the European Union, said the European Board for Protection of Data has ordered the administrative fine “of 1.2 billion euros”.

The Irish Commission for Data Protection has investigated the transfer that has made Meta with personal data from EU users to US since 2020.

The investigation found that Meta, who has European headquarters in Dublin, has failed to address the risks of fundamental rights and the freedoms of user's” data that were previously identified as transferred, according to the European Union's Court of Justice ruling.

This court interprets EU laws and ensures that they apply in the same way in all member states.

In response, Meta said it was the disappointed “” that this company alone is isolated and that the decision “is unfair and sets a dangerous precedent for dozens of other companies”.

“We will appeal the verdict, which includes the fine, and we will ask the court to pay for the implementation deadlines of decision”, Meta's president said on global issues, Nick Cleggg, and the company's legal chief, Jennifer Newsade.

Meta said he hopes that in the following months, the US and the EU will adopt a new legal framework that will allow personal data to be used. A preliminary agreement was reached on the issue last year, under which the practice of data transfer would be allowed.

In the last six months, EU regulators have fined Meta company four times this year alone three times over the violations made by Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook.

In January, the European Board of Data Protection fined the social media giant 300m euros due to violations of rules during the use of advertising targeted on its applications.

In March, Meta was forced to pay 5.5m euros because of the violations made by Whatsapp.

The latest fine, initiated by the Irish regulator, initially aimed at Meta suspending the transfer of data. But other EU regulators demanded that Meta be fined.