On Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was hit with significant fines by the European Union (EU) for privacy violations.
The Irish Data Protection Commission imposed fines totaling 390 million euros ($414 million) in two separate cases that may impact Meta’s business model of targeting users with personalized ads based on their online activity.
The social media giant has stated that it plans to appeal the decision.
A decision in a third case involving Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service is expected later in the month.
As one of the world’s largest tech companies, Meta has faced pressure from the EU’s strict privacy regulations.
The Irish watchdog, which serves as Meta’s lead European data privacy regulator due to the company’s regional headquarters being located in Dublin, has already imposed four other fines on Meta for data privacy infringements totaling over 900 million euros.
In addition, there are several open cases against various Silicon Valley companies.
Meta is also facing scrutiny from EU antitrust officials in Brussels for alleged distortion of competition in classified ads.
