BEUC Takes Aim At Meta’s Alleged Illegal Practices
According to the latest reports, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is again under hot water as European consumer organizations aim for Meta’s alleged illegal practices. In a significant development, eight groups from BEUC raised concerns about the data collection methods of Meta. According to them, the social media giant is fostering a surveillance-based advertising system, violating user privacy and disregarding data protection laws. BEUC stated:
“With its illegal practices, Meta fuels the surveillance-based ads system, which tracks consumers online and gathers vast amounts of personal data to show them adverts. It is also the main way Meta makes its profits,”
Mark Zuckerberg Again Under Scrutiny
Meta gave users the option to pay for an ad-free service or consent to the company’s full commercial surveillance with ads back in November 2023. Meta stated:
“We introduced this choice, called ‘Subscription for no ads’, as our consent solution to comply with a unique combination of connected and sometimes overlapping EU regulatory obligations with differing compliance deadlines,”
Meta suggested the ad-free service as a solution to concede with EU regulatory obligations. On the other hand, BEUC considered it unfair and misleading to users, adding to the mounting criticisms against the social media giant. There have been several previous complaints lodged against the tech giant for misleading and forceful practices and now these findings also seem to add to the recent scrutiny. Reports claim that customer supporters are strengthening their efforts to hold Meta accountable for its actions.
Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, have incurred many fines from European regulators. Last year, the social media giant was fined $1.3 billion for sharing data of users in Europe with the United States. At that time, regulators stated that the company failed to concede to a 2020 decision by the European Union’s highest court. Furthermore, Meta was also fined €390 million ($423.3 million) for compelling users to accept personalized ads as a requirement of using Facebook and another €265 million for a data leak. There are 408 million active users in the European Union. So, regulators are sending a transparent message to Meta that severe breaches will have far-reaching consequences.
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