Facebook owner Meta Platforms was ordered to pay a record $1.3 billion fine by European privacy regulators over the company’s transfer of EU user data back to the U.S.
The decision comes from a case brought by privacy advocate Max Schrems who argued that Europeans were unprotected under the framework for transferring EU citizen data to the United States.
According to the Data Protection Commission, “the data transfers in question were being carried out in breach of Article 46(1) GDPR” and that “in these circumstances, the data transfers should be suspended.”
Meta said it will appeal the ruling, “including the unjustified and unnecessary fine, and seek a stay of the orders through the courts,” adding that Facebook service in Europe will not be affected.
“We are appealing these decisions and will immediately seek a stay with the courts who can pause the implementation deadlines, given the harm that these orders would cause, including to the millions of people who use Facebook every day,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newstead, chief legal officer at the company, in a blog pos.
