'META' BREACHES FINED : IRELAND PRIVACY LAWS

Dublin : Ireland on Tuesday imposed a fine on Facebook parent company Meta for breaching EU data privacy laws, in the latest action in Europe against the business practices of US tech titans.

The fine against the social media giant, which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, amounted to a total of Euro 17 million [$18.7 million] following an inquiry into 12 data breaches, said the Data Protection Commission [DPC].

EU member Ireland, which hosts the regional headquarters of a number of leading tech firms including Apple, Google and Twitter, has played a role in policing the block's strict General Data Protection Regulations [GDPR]. [AFP]