Meta hit with record-breaking $1.3 billion fine

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has been slapped with

of $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) by EU . Along with the hefty penalty, the company has been ordered to halt the transfer of Facebook user data belonging to EU citizens to the United States. This decision stems from concerns raised by EU courts regarding faced by EU citizens due to such data transfers. The complaint originated in 2013, triggered by Edward Snowden's revelations about mass surveillance programs conducted by the US government.

The ruling was delivered by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC), which asserted that

governing data transfers to the US failed to address the potential risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of Facebook's EU users. This violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) led to the imposition of the €1.2 billion fine, surpassing the previous record penalty of €746 million imposed on Amazon in 2021 for similar privacy breaches. The transfer of data to the US holds immense importance for Meta, as it fuels the company's , which heavily rely on processing vast amounts of personal data from its user base. In response to the situation, Meta had previously warned that if it were unable to send data back to the US, it might have to contemplate shutting down its platforms, namely Facebook and Instagram, in the EU. However, EU politicians viewed this statement as a clear attempt at blackmail, emphasizing that Meta cannot coerce the EU into . In fact, EU lawmaker Axel Voss remarked that if Meta were to withdraw from the EU, it would ultimately be their loss.

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