Meta Platforms is bracing for an unprecedented fine from the European Union concerning the transfer of data from Facebook’s European users to its servers in the United States. This action arises from the company’s non-compliance with a critical ruling from a leading EU court, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The financial penalty is expected to surpass the previous high of EUR 746 million (approximately Rs. 6,660 crore) levied against Amazon.com, the sources indicated.
Meta has chosen not to comment on the matter, while requests for feedback from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) and the European Commission have gone unanswered.
Under the leadership of Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, EU regulators are close to finalizing a prohibition on the legal framework that Facebook employs to transfer user data. This move reflects ongoing concerns regarding the potential for US intelligence agencies to access European data.
In April, the regulators stated that the Irish DPC was given a timeframe of one month to initiate an order that would halt Facebook’s data transfers across the Atlantic. This ban could potentially take effect by mid-May.
The European Court of Justice ruled in 2020 that a data transfer agreement between the EU and the US was invalid due to apprehensions surrounding surveillance practices.
Last year, Meta cautioned that a prohibition on its current mechanism for transatlantic data movement might necessitate the suspension of Facebook services across Europe.
In a separate development, Meta Platforms has entered the generative AI arena this week, announcing plans to test artificial intelligence-driven advertising tools capable of producing content such as image backgrounds and various text variations.
A group of selected advertisers will be invited to try out these tools in a “testing playground” named the AI Sandbox, as detailed by Meta executives during a press conference held in New York.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
