Meta Platforms slapped with $19 million fine for EU data law breaches

Meta Platforms was fined 17 million euros ($19 million) for violating the European Union’s privacy rules by failing to prevent a series of data breaches on its Facebook platform in 2018. 

The Irish Data Protection Commission, the lead EU privacy watchdog for Meta, said it found that Facebook “failed to have in place appropriate technical and organizational measures.” 

Facebook in 2018 became the first big test case for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation when the Irish watchdog announced an investigation into a breach that affected as many as 50 million accounts.