Facebook parent company Meta is reportedly being hit with a record €1.2 billion EU privacy fine over the transfer of EU user data to its US servers.

Sources told Bloomberg the Irish Data Protection Commission's fine comes after the social media giant failed to take note of a top EU court’s warnings around protecting users’ data from US security services.

The media company reported that the Irish watchdog may demand the pause of EU user data transfer to the US, with further sources telling news website Politico the court might also demand that Facebook ceases its use of complex legal instruments – so-called standard clause contracts – to move EU data to the US.

Separate sources confirmed to Reuters the fine amount will surpass the previous €746 million record imposed by the Luxembourg National Commission on Amazon in 2021 after it failed to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) processing principles.

The news follows a previous GDPR-related fine of €390 million imposed on Meta by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) after it ruled that the way in which the company asked permission to use data for adverts on its websites was unlawful.

National Technology News has reached out to Meta for comment.

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