GDPR Violations Have Cost Meta Almost €2.3B so Far

Since GDPR came into effect in May 2018, EU privacy regulators have hit several US tech giants with eye-watering fines, including a €746 million on Amazon in Luxembourg and a €225 million fine on WhatsApp in Ireland.

However, Meta’s massive €1.2 billion fine, imposed on the social media giant last month, is the largest to date. Shockingly, this is merely half the money the company must pay to EU privacy regulators. According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, GDPR violations have cost Meta almost €2.3 billion so far.

Meta`s GDPR Fines Cost €700M more than those of Amazon, Google, TikTok and WhatsApp Combined

Even six years after coming into force, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) continues causing hefty fines and penalties for businesses and organizations across European countries. Last year alone, over €2 billion in fines were imposed in the EU due to violations of GDPR, the highest figure so far. Even more shockingly, only one company will pay more than 60% of that value, Meta Platforms.

The Facebook owner convincingly tops the list of the biggest GDPR violators globally. According to Statista and Enforcement Tracker data, the company has been imposed with €2.27 billion worth of GDPR fines, and the last one worth €1.2 billion makes more than half of that value.

In 2022, the social media giant paid $687 million in GDPR fines for non-compliance with GDPR rules. As if that wasn’t enough, in April last year, Meta Ireland, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, was hit with a €390 million fine by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) for GDPR breaches. The DPC found Meta Ireland failed to obtain valid consent from users to collect and process their personal data for targeted advertising.

The total value of GDPR fines imposed on Meta is even more shocking when compared to those of other tech giants. Statistics show that Meta’s GDPR fines cost €700 million more than those of Amazon, Google, TikTok, and WhatsApp combined. The e-commerce giant Amazon was fined a whopping €746 million for violating EU data privacy rules. TikTok, WhatsApp, and Google follow with €360 million, €230 million, and €215 million, respectively.

Meta Paid 51% of Cumulative Value of All GDPR Fines so Far

The Enforcement Tracker data also gave an interesting insight into Meta’s share in the cumulative value of all GDPR fines imposed by EU privacy regulators.

So far, the EU privacy regulators have imposed €4.41 billion worth of GDPR fines. Thanks to its common GDPR violations, the social media giant will pay more than half of that value.