Meta collects record fines of 1.2 billion euros Tens of thousands protest in Belgrade against Serbian ‘culture of violence’

The Facebook group Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros for violating the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Irish data protection authority DPC announced this on Monday in Dublin.

The case concerns Facebook’s involvement in mass surveillance by Anglo-American secret services, which was discovered a decade ago by American whistleblower Edward Snowden. At the time, Austrian data protection activist Max Schrems filed a complaint against Facebook.

The fine imposed by the DPC dwarfs the previous record fine of 746 million euros for Amazon.com in Luxembourg. In addition, Meta must cease any further transfer of European personal data to the United States, as the company remains subject to US surveillance laws.

Does Meta fight back?

Meta did not comment on the record penalty for the time being. However, experts assume that the American group will appeal the decision. However, legal proceedings can take years. By then, a new data package could come into effect between the European Union and the US, regulating transatlantic data traffic.

Meta had previously threatened to withdraw completely from the EU if transatlantic data transfers were not permanently possible.

Schrems explains that the fine imposed could have been much higher: “The maximum fine is more than four billion. And Meta has deliberately violated the GDPR for ten years to make a profit.” If US surveillance laws are not changed, Meta will likely have to fundamentally restructure its systems, Schrems explains.

Years of struggle

The Irish data protection authority DPC had for years refused to take action against Facebook in this case. Ultimately, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) forced the DPC to impose a fine on the social network. The current decision only affects Facebook, not other metagroup services such as Instagram or WhatsApp.

However, Meta had already been fined 390 million euros by the DPC in January for forcing Facebook and Instagram users to agree to personalized ads.

Since the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation five years ago, fines of four billion euros have been imposed so far with the new fine for Meta. Meta is now represented six times in the list of the ten highest fines, the fines now amount to a total of 2.5 billion euros. Fashion chain H&M had to pay Germany’s highest fine of 35 million euros in 2020 for insufficient legal basis for the data processing of its webshop.

(sda/awp/dpa)