The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) puts Meta in the hot seat due to its behavioural advertising, with piling fines over non-compliance.
Meta to Ask Permission from EU Users
Norway’s data protection agency found that Meta’s behavioural advertising practices don’t comply with the GDPR. It started imposing a daily fine against the former Facebook.
The stipulations of the decision entail Meta cease its procedures throughout most of the EU by November 10. The platform already stated they’ll start asking for consent from EU users.
Moreover, the company will introduce a new paid subscription option for those who don’t want to provide consent. These users will have the advantage of accessing all of the social media platform’s services for $10.50 a month.
Making Quick Huge Business Schemes
In August of this year, Norwegian behavioural advertising banned the platform and ordered it to pay 1 million kroner a day if it remained in violation. Norway’s law marks off the time a company can be penalised this way to three months, which expired on November 3.
According to reports, Meta allowed the fines to accumulate while continuing its business, despite an Oslo court declining its appeal for a temporary restraint in late August. It could have been the platform was content with just settling the bourgeoned fines eventually. Take note that Mark Zuckerberg’s company generates a quarterly revenue of $7 billion in Europe.
Norway’s data protection board instead referred the case to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) for an immediate binding decision on an EU ban. The board also considers the company has violated GDPR rules.
The EDPB specified that Meta’s scheme for user content doesn’t satisfy GDPR requirements. This makes the Norwegian ban an EU ban, and Meta may be contingent on additional penalties in other countries.
The company said that it would oblige with the decision, changing its consent plan to intently ask users to opt in. However, it seems that users who opt out won’t be able to utilise the company’s services. They still can but they must register for the new ad-free subscription.
This setup could put the platform into more trouble with the GDPR. According to the regulation, the consent should be given freely. It would be too cumbersome if the service blocked the users except if they paid to have behavioural advertising gone from the experience. Informed consent or transitioning to a less inquisitive advertising model is the only way to be free from the EU ban.
Big Tech Has Adverse Effects on Mental Health
Big Tech, such as Meta has influenced human biology and psychology and how people behave. Moreover, the effects on children are more terrifying, like the case of a 14-year-old girl in the UK who committed suicide. The victim’s prolonged exposure to content regarding suicide and self-injury on Instagram led to her death.
There are 42 US Attorney Generals who filed complaints against Instagram its plagued parent Meta regarding the issue in state and federal courts. They were charged with adding to the youth’s mental crisis, due to the enthralling nature of the platforms.
They claimed that Meta intentionally makes young people and teens spend most of their time on social media. The platform continued with its procedure despite knowing the fact that teenage brains are susceptible to the instantaneous pleasure of likes and acknowledgement from other users.
“Meta did not disclose that its algorithms were designed to capitalise on young users’ dopamine responses and create an addictive cycle of engagement,” said the complaint.
If the complaints win, the parent company might pay up to $5,000 for each violation. It may sound little but could accumulate to billions of dollars since there are 160 million Instagram users in the US not to mention UK users.
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