The ‘unexpectedly harsh’ penalty served out to Facebook owner Meta by Ireland’s data privacy regulator has wide-ranging consequences for the tech-giant, showing how national rulings can impact business on a global scale.

To recap, Meta has been fined EUR265 million ($275 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC), bringing its total data privacy fines in Europe to EUR1 billion ($1 billion);

Emma Taylor, Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Against the backdrop of mass layoffs and a rapidly sinking share price, the news of an additional fine represents another blow for Meta. Although the company claimed to have changed its policies since the data leak, the IDPC has been understandably harsh with its penalty.

“Ireland’s position in regulating Big Tech has increased, as Meta, Google, TikTok, and Twitter all now have offices there. Looking at its track record, Meta being hit with yet another fine is unsurprising. It would only be surprising if it were the last.”

Sarah Coop, Analyst at GlobalData, added: “Meta is on a losing streak. Privacy breaches damage consumer trust, which is already dwindling for Meta. Its central social media platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract younger users due to strong competition from other platforms like TikTok. The company has also reportedly lost $9.4 billion on its metaverse business unit and has recently restructured, laying off 11,000 employees.

“GDPR fines are simply collateral damage for Big Tech. While fines can be large, at up to 4% of global turnover, most Big Tech consider it the cost of doing business. However, consumer confidence will be important for the metaverse, and cybersecurity breaches and data privacy fines further taint Meta’s already tarnished reputation.”