(Finance) – European Union privacy regulators have ruled that Meta Platforms (company that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) it shouldn’t require users to accept personalized ads based on their online activity. This was stated by the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, explaining that the sentence may limit what data Meta can access to sell those ads.
The bottom line would be that social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram cannot use their terms of use as a justification for allowing advertising based on what users click and watch within their apps. The sentences, not yet made public, would not directly order Meta to change its practices, but would ask the Irish Data Protection Commission to issue “public orders” reflecting board decisions, as well as significant fines.
That arriving from the EU is not the only potentially negative news for Meta in these hours. Facebook stands threatening to remove the news from its American platform whether Congress forces big tech groups to systematically pay publishers for their content. The Financial Times reports it underlining that the threat follows the measures attached to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“No company should be forced to pay for content that users don’t want to see and that they are not a significant source of revenue,” said a spokesperson for Meta, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on journalism in recent years, landing deals with media groups around the world, but has spoken out against mandatory payments.
Finally, an investigation by the Facebook Oversight Board (an independent body set up by the company itself to oversee its activities) said that Facebook and Instagram put business before human rights, reserving a special treatment to posts that break the rules from politicians, celebrities and high-profile users.
While Meta told the board that the system known as “cross-checking” appears to be “structured more directly for meet the concerns of businesses“, the panel said in a report.
(Photo: Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash)