Meta fined record $1.3 billion by EU over handling of Facebook user data

European Union data regulators have hit Meta with a $1.3 billion fine (about €1.2 billion) and ordered the company to cease transferring EU Facebook user data to the US by October. The fine exceeds Amazon's $886 million fine from the EU for data protection violations in 2021.

Meta says it plans to appeal the ruling, and seeking a stay of the order.

But in 2020, Privacy Shield was struck down by the EU's top court, ruling that the agreement still allowed the US government to access EU user data. Without Privacy Shield and without a new agreement, Meta's fate in the EU is unclear. 

Late last year, The European Commission announced that the EU and the US were drafting another deal like Privacy Shield, but this deal would include more legal protections and safeguards for EU user data. 

However, like any piece of legislation, drafting an agreement that both parties are happy with will take time and might not be ready before Meta's October deadline to cease data transfers. 

In Meta's latest earning report, the company said it may have to stop offering Facebook in Europe, “which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.” The company says that to continue operating in the EU, a deal between the EU and the US about user data storage must occur.

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But according to EU lawmaker Axel Voss, Meta “cannot just blackmail the EU into giving up its data protection standards,” he tweeted in response to Meta.

Some experts say that although Meta's $1.3 billion fine is hefty and the largest in EU data privacy suit history, the money is not Meta's biggest issue. Meta must reimagine its data transfer policies, which will prove difficult as the legal framework surrounding the issue is nonexistent in the US.

“This order to delete data is really a headache for Meta,” said Johnny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. “It is very hard to see how it will be able to comply with that order.”

On the other hand, some say the large fine shows tech companies that data privacy is something the EU takes very seriously.

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“The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences,” said Andrea Jelinek, the chairwoman of the European Data Protection Board.