Fined 390 million euros by the European Union and required to state the legal basis for targeted advertising, Meta refused and will appeal.

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens for their witty meow clue delivery! According to news in the morning of January 5, Beijing time, EU privacy regulators reportedly fined Meta as much as 390 million euros (about 2.851 billion yuan, $414 million). How on earth do Facebook and Instagram use personal data to send targeted ads in the EU? EU regulators believe that the Meta must state its legal basis. Meta disagreed with the ruling and the fine and said it would appeal.

The Irish data Protection Commission (Irish Data Protection Commission,DPC) issued a fine on behalf of the European Union, ordering Meta to pay 2 fines, a sum of 210 million euros (about 1.535 billion yuan), mainly because Meta violated the EU General data Protection regulations (GDPR), and a second sum of 180 million euros (about 1.316 billion yuan), mainly for Instagram violating the General data Protection regulations. The two fines add up to 390 million euros.

Irish regulators have conducted a lengthy investigation into Meta, and the fine means the end of the investigation. The DPC began investigating Meta as early as May 25, 2018, when the EU GDPR entered into force.

In Wednesday's ruling, the DPC ordered Meta to comply with data processing within three months. A spokesman for Meta explained in an email: "it is incorrect that Meta cannot provide personalized advertising in Europe unless each user's license agreement is obtained first. Regulators and policy makers have been arguing for some time about the lack of regulatory clarity and which legal basis is most appropriate in certain circumstances." Based on this, Meta did not agree with DPC's final ruling, and the company decided to appeal.