Hey! I got to go a whole month without using our Red Meta Header image! Surprisingly, the social media giant, for the most part, was able to stay under the radar for a while. That is until the European Union slapped Mark Zuckerberg’s company with a record-setting $1.3 billion fine!
Thanks to an article on CNBC, we learned that Zucky and his VR-obsessed company were allegedly being naughty regarding E.U. user data. The Irish Data Protection Commission claimed that Meta failed to protect user data from snooping eyes in the U.S.
The lack of user info oversight went against the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. Meta kept transferring personal info back and forth to the U.S. even though it had no legal approval to do so. Kind of.
Zuckerberg’s company had a “standard contractual clauses” workaround to move data between the bloc and the U.S. However, the Irish Data Protection Commission claims Meta “did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of users. The perceived violations also led the Irish watchdog to ask that Meta “suspend any future transfer of personal data to the U.S. within the period of five months.”
The social media company, of course, is appealing the sanction and monetary punishment. In a joint statement from Meta’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, they claimed the decisions by the Irish Data Protection Commission would “harm” Meta users and “the millions of people who use Facebook every day.” How, exactly? Nick Clegg and Jennifer Newstead did not elaborate.
The early 2020s have not been kind to Facebook / Meta. Lawsuits and layoffs have been prevalent over the past couple of years. Ten thousand employees were pink-slipped two months ago.
When will the Meta madness end? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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