1y ago

Meta could get slapped with a massive fine for violating the EU's Digital Markets Act

www.engadget.com

25 comments

Define "massive." Because if it doesn't substantially cut into their profits then it's not a fine but just the cost of doing business.
- "In case a gatekeeper does not comply with the obligations laid out in the DMA, the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of the company's total worldwide turnover, which can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringement."
  
  The way fines should be constructed. As a percentage of something's worth.
- Meta's global revenue last year was $134 billion. It would have to be a historic fine to even make a dent. I'm not hopeful. This will be another "cost of doing business" situation.
  
  A $13 billion fine does not look like a "cost of doing business" scenario to me.
- Oh you'll see. It'll be super massive. It'll be amazingly punishing!
  It'll be like... 0.2% of their gross.
  Then it'll spend years in legal battles to become 0.05%.
  
  Have you seen the kind of fines the EU hands out? They're nothing to sneeze at
Let's hope they get fined and it sets a precedent. That crap of" pay or consent" it's becoming the norm in every site I visit. That's not a free choice. I'm forced to consent if I don't want to pay, so it should be a flawed consent.
- European law generally isn't precedent-based, but the commission already put out a statement saying that "pay-or-okay" models are not GDPR compliant. https://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2024-04/edpb_opinion_202408_consentorpay_en.pdf
- I disagree, no one is by law obligated to provide free services for you. Either pay or have ads is fine by me.
  And DMA does not care about your local newspaper site, unless they're so big that they're a gatekeeper. Ruling based on DMA does not affect anyone but the gatekeepers.
  
  Pay or have ads is fine by the EU’s DMA law too. What isn’t fine is the collection of user data without consent. Facebook can show all the ads they want, but if they collect user data to target those ads they need consent.
  Think about radio or TV advertising - those aren’t targeted at specific people, but rather they’re targeted based on what channel, time of day and TV shows that they’re around. Meta can do the same stuff, but they just don’t want to give up that lucrative user data.
  
  It's not about having free services but flawed consent. I can't give you my consent if it's either pay or accept tracking tracking. That's not a free consent, and that's what's being ruled here. Give me a paywall, I'm fine with it. But don't you go saying you're giving me a free choice when it's either pay or screw your privacy. That's not consent, that's extortion.
They COULD do a lot of things. Show me an article if something actually happens.

25 comments