EU to Fine Meta for More than USUS$800 Million Over Data Transfer to US

EU to fine Meta for more than USUS$800 million over data transfer to the US as per the reports

Multiple media outlets have reported, citing sources, that Facebook parent company Meta will be fined more than US$800 million. According to media sources, the corporation will pay the punishment because it disregarded the top court of the European Union's warning about the transfer of EU customers' data to US servers.

According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity, Ireland's Data Protection Commission will penalize the social media giant for disobeying a top court warning intended to safeguard users' data from American security services once it is transferred to servers across the Atlantic.

Media sources claim that Ireland's data protection agency, which is anticipated to halt data transfers from Facebook's European users to the US, will announce the penalties as soon as Monday. According to Politico, the court could also order Facebook to cease utilizing complicated legal tools known as standard contract terms to transfer EU data to the US.

According to sources, the amount will be larger than the previous record fine of US$821 million (746 euros) for Amazon. This comes after Amazon was ordered to pay a punishment of the same amount in 2021 by Luxembourg for violating the EU's privacy laws similarly.

To stop data transfers based on standard contractual clauses (SCCs) could have "a far-reaching effect on businesses that rely on SCCs (Facebook and other tech giants) and on the online services that many people and businesses rely on," the company that also owns WhatsApp and Instagram warned.

Similar to this, Meta repeated earlier this year that it would "likely" not be able to provide access to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, across Europe, without SCCs or "other alternative means of data transfers," according to The Guardian.