Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is facing a record-breaking fine in Europe over the misuse of data on social media subsidiary Facebook, according to reports.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is poised to confirm the fine on Monday morning, Bloomberg reported, which will be for over the €746mln (£647mln) previous record for a breach of the EU’s general data protection regulation, issued to Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) in 2021.
Meta’s punishment will come after warnings by Europe’s highest court in 2020 to stop using “complex legal instruments” to transfer EU user data from Facebook to the US.
New rulings from the commission will also likely clamp down on data flows from Europe to the US, where protection laws are less strict and allow access by intelligence agents.
Meta argued in its recent quarterly results that without standard contractual clauses, under which data is transferred, “significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram” may no longer be offered in Europe.
Mark Zuckerberg’s technology giant has faced a host of fines in recent years, including €265mln over user data leaks and €405mln for allowing teenagers to publicly display personal information on their accounts late last year.