Meta Was Just Fined a Record-Breaking $1.3 Billion

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has been slapped with a record-breaking fine of 1.2 billion Euros ($1.3 billion) by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) on Monday. The penalty stems from Meta's alleged transfer of user data collected from the European Union (EU) to the United States, which is said to violate the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implemented by the EU. This fine surpasses the previous highest fine of 746 million Euros imposed on Amazon in 2021 for a data protection violation. Initially, the DPC had divergent views from other EU regulators on the fine, leading the European Data Protection Board to step in and enforce it.

As a result of the fine, Meta has been instructed to halt the transfer of user data from the EU to the U.S. The company has expressed its intention to appeal the decision and the imposed penalty. In a published annual report last year, Meta had even threatened to discontinue services for its European users if the dispute regarding data transfers persisted.

In response to the fine, Meta's President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, and Chief Legal Officer, Jennifer Newstead, expressed their concerns in a blog post on Monday, emphasizing the significance of cross-border data transfers for the functioning of the global internet. They warned that without the ability to transfer data seamlessly across borders, the internet could fragment into national or regional partitions, restricting the global economy and hindering access to shared services relied upon by people worldwide.

Clegg and Newstead asserted their plans to challenge the rulings and seek a stay from the courts to pause the implementation deadlines. They highlighted the potential harm caused by the orders, including the impact on the millions of people who use Facebook daily.

The ruling originated from a lawsuit filed in 2013 by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems following the revelations made by Edward Snowden. The lawsuit argued that U.S. law offered inadequate protection against surveillance of data transferred into the country.

The United States and the EU have long struggled to establish a mutual agreement on transatlantic data transfers due to the EU's stringent data privacy policies and the comparatively looser regulations in the U.S. In their statement, Clegg and Newstead urged for a comprehensive EU-U.S. data privacy framework to be negotiated before the DPC's compliance deadline. They emphasized the need for continued uninterrupted services and minimal impact on users.