Meta Platforms: Difference between revisions

May 22, 2023: Irish Data Protection Commission announced that it has fined Meta platforms €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion)  for transferring user data to the U.S, where it will be exposed to the prying eyes of the American security services. The commission has also asked Meta Platforms to stop " any future transfer of user data to the U.S" within 5 months. Additionally, Meta Platforms has been asked to stop “the unlawful processing, including storage, in the US” of such data within 6 months. The ban was widely expected though its impact has been reduced by the transition phases included in the decision as well as the possibility of a new EU-US data flows agreement that could be operational by June of this year<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-22/meta-fined-record-1-3-billion-in-eu-over-us-data-transfers</ref>. This ruling applies only to Facebook and not WhatsApp or Instagram but the decision could force Meta to delete vast amounts of EU user data. Meta said they will appeal the decision and that no immediate disruption to Facebook services in the EU is expected<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/business/meta-facebook-eu-privacy-fine.html</ref>.  The company said during the latest earnings call that " roughly 10% of worldwide ad revenue comes from ads delivered to Facebook users in EU countries."<ref>https://www.investmentwiki.org/wiki/Meta_Platforms:Quarterly_Results/2023_Q1#:~:text=Regulatory%20Environmennt%5Bedit,suspension%5B13%5D</ref> It also warned last year that if a new transatlantic data transfer framework doesn't materialize, it will be forced to pull its Facebook and Instagram services from EU<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-29/meta-repeats-threat-it-may-pull-facebook-instagram-from-europe</ref>.