Mastodawn

André Simões 🇵🇹🇪🇺5d ago

@EUCommission not enough.

Arnel Šarić Sharan

@andresr @EUCommission

Stop META AI

AndyGER

@EUCommission You fine them to pay money. The one thing both companies have a lot of. How about fining them about to stop doing business within the #eu? THAT would be a game changer, right?! ... ;-)

Joe Breuer 5d ago

@andreas_heitmann @EUCommission quite exactly my own thoughts. They'll just figure such fines into their "cost of doing business" and will only be even more creatively exploitative in recouping those costs.

Edit: typo

Purple

I'm convinced a 500 million euro fine for apple is still very much a serious impact. Additionally if things are not being followed up upon, additional fines will follow.

I'm very glad to know the European Union is now 700 million euros richer, which will improve the lives of its citizens, on top of upcoming increased freedoms on the platforms of Apple and Meta.

Joe Breuer 5d ago

@Purple @andreas_heitmann @EUCommission hm, what impact does that fine have on the actual people who decided the stance/course of the company in that regard?

Purple

You bet your ass if you're the reason why the company gets a fine of 500 million euros that questions are being asked internally. Too many of those and you'll 100% lose your position

Wilfried Klaebe 5d ago

@Purple Only if the responsible persons aren't Cook / Zuck themselves...

Joe Breuer 5d ago

@Purple @andreas_heitmann @EUCommission unless you're owner/'leader' to begin with.

bytebro 5d ago

Sure; those fines (while not deductible as revenue expenses, at least not when I was doing accounts some years ago) will just get amortised over the expected period between similar fines.

iamspeedmaus 5d ago

@andreas_heitmann @EUCommission absolutely right, where do these companies get their money from? from us. so it‘s the public paying these fines.

Mikkaels 5d ago

@speedmaus @andreas_heitmann @EUCommission No, not really. This impacts directly on the company's Profit and Loss account.
Less profit for them, less money for investors. Customers are not impacted as the company does not adjust the price of products following the fine (as it would after trade tariffs are imposed).

iamspeedmaus 5d ago

@mikkaels @andreas_heitmann @EUCommission Yes on this end it‘s less money for investors. And still, the reason why these companies make money in the first place is because apple sells hardwear to us and meta is farming our time and attention. So we are paying. We already did. The purchases from all of us over the past two centuries are what made these companies.

Mikkaels 5d ago

@speedmaus @andreas_heitmann @EUCommission This is all good but it has nothing to do with EU fines.

@andreas_heitmann @EUCommission

Wilfried Klaebe 5d ago

@speedmaus OTOH, it's the shareholders getting less revenue.

XCM 5d ago

@andreas_heitmann @EUCommission
Precisely. Additionally, that money should go to directly compensate consumers

xinit ☕5d ago

@andreas_heitmann yeah, the trouble with fines like this is that the companies just build them into their budgets as a cost of doing business. Make it hurt. @EUCommission

Maki 5d ago

@EUCommission You have not fined Meta enough. You have not crippled their monopoly position. You have not done anything worthwhile to stop their malpractices on the European market. It's just the bare minimum.

BerlinFokus 5d ago

I demand to get rid of the whole "#consent" concept and to define what is legal and what isn't (regardless of the user choice).

And then to enforce the #law. Just like offline.

Because in "real life" it would still be illegal to rob me, even if someone tricked me into some "consent" or whatever scam.

Whatever you do now, is being complicit in an international crime network.

RejZoR 5d ago

@EUCommission There is a way of service that uses less of personal data. By not using garbage Meta puts out. Their entire MO is hoarding user data and selling stuff to advertisers. Every single person on Facebook or whatever service they offer are nothing but a product, not an user.

devoir 5d ago

@EUCommission thank you 🙏

SamuelJohnson 5d ago

@EUCommission Shame the fines were so paltry.

iamspeedmaus 5d ago

@EUCommission Fine them until they retreat, also Mark „Goebels“ #Suckerberg to Den Haag NOW for supporting Genocide, Femicide and Dictatorships with his companies, lock him up for life🗑️

@EUCommission @Natasha_Jay #DoBetterApple

Brian Hawthorne 5d ago

Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽5d ago

proNET IT Technologie 5d ago

Apple, rooting around they pants pockets:
"Sure, I've got a $20 around in here somewhere? Ah. Got change for a $50? Listen keep the change. Well just say 'you owe me'. "

That's a good start!

@EUCommission good for open source thinking.. 👍

Saupreiss #Präparat500 5d ago

If it just wouldnt emit the foul odor to be a diplomatic thing but a fine.

GBS Media Pro 5d ago

@EUCommission
Is this in response to the tariffs from the USA seeking fair and equal trade?

FranciscoJorge28 5d ago

Fabian (Bocchi) 🏳️‍🌈5d ago

@EUCommission can we talk about forced LLM integration including data scraping for more and more Meta services?

Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE 5d ago

@EUCommission Do let us know, in 17 years' time or whenever the appeals finally peter out, whether anything ever actually gets paid.

Enes 5d ago

@EUCommission EU ↔️⬆️
You guys making tech better. Thanks 🔥

Andreas Burger 5d ago

@EUCommission super!
now the other bigtechs please

PerlPlayer 5d ago

@EUCommission It's about time, and I hope there will be more.

jozefch 5d ago

@EUCommission and still not enough! What percentage it is from their yearly incomes? what a fucking joke 🤦‍♂️

Chris 🦑5d ago

@jozefch

thanks for asking!
for Apple this means they pay 10,41hours of annual revenue or 0.12%

for Meta this means they pay 14,61hours of annual revenue or 0.17%

@EUCommission do better.

UPDATE: EU can actually take up to 10% if I got that right, but they didn't because reasons on the other side of the ocean

Saupreiss #Präparat500 5d ago

@sturmsucht

So in human terms, it’s an above average speeding ticket. 🎫

@jozefch @EUCommission

Chris 🦑5d ago

@Saupreiss

for most of Europe yes. Would advise to go with the Finish speed ticket fees for big tech

@jozefch @EUCommission

laund 5d ago

@jozefch @EUCommission its good that something is happening yes? it could be better, but if you are punished for any small step, you will never learn to run.

👍 🇪🇺

Now maybe do something about your incompetent and counterproductive cookie regulations that have made the cookie situation much much worse for everyone.

amonduin 5d ago

@khoji @EUCommission

How are they worse for everyone?

Prior to the cookie regulation cookies could track you invisibly without any option to opt out. While the new situation isn't great at least you can now opt out. That isn't worse.

Timo Grün 5d ago

@amonduin @EUCommission
The opt out rules are so bad that 99% of users just click accept all. Almost all the popups are dark patterns and incomprehensible for most users, making a genuine choice effectively impossible because the only easy choice is accept all. Users still don’t understand what cookies are, hate the popups way more than the cookies and are now accepting more tracking than without the rules. That is worse in every way.

amonduin 4d ago

@khoji @EUCommission
Why do you believe they are accepting more tracking? Has the cookie consent screen enabled new tracking that wasn’t already happening? If so, how?

Second, not all websites have dark patterns for consent. I suspect you’re right and that most people click accept all, personally, I am glad I have the choice because I’m one of the weird ones who actually engages with the dark patterns to opt out.

Magnus Ahltorp 5d ago

@khoji If by “made the situation much much worse” you mean “made bad actors show what they are doing and harass people instead of just selling off their information without hassle”.

Timo Grün 5d ago

@ahltorp

The opt out rules are so bad that 99% of users just click accept all. Almost all the popups are dark patterns and incomprehensible for most users, making a genuine choice effectively impossible because the only easy choice is accept all. Users still don’t understand what cookies are, hate the popups way more than the cookies and are now accepting more tracking than without the rules. That is worse in every way.

Mikkaels 2d ago

@khoji @ahltorp If that 99% figure of yours was correct, so many websites wouldn't have implemented the cookie wall.
That checks with my experience as well: a lot of people I know take their time to uncheck all of the consent options before browsing a website.

Moise 5d ago

@EUCommission
Off to a good start! ❤️

Sturmflut 5d ago

@EUCommission Where does the money go to? Is it invested into European alternatives?

#digitalsovereignty

European Commission 3d ago

Hello @Sturmflut! Thank you for your question! The fines will go into the EU budget. Did you know that for the first time ever we are asking citizens to contribute in shaping our budget? You can have your say here: https://europa.eu/!hKRJmV

European Commission - Have your say

T Lisa B 5d ago

Are you going to make them pay taxes, too?

saradsmejem 5d ago

@EUCommission supporting such dangerous evil like meta should be awarded by limited woting right for their users...

Joddo 5d ago

@EUCommission halleluja👏👏👏 now spend that fine money on something good for the peeps

Freya Anduin, author 5d ago

at present Meta even makes it absurdly hard to delete posts with 'errors' and just plain spite, having a session shut down quickly so you need mark up the same posts over and over again and with a 50 pæost limit at a time it takes forever. no doubt it's deliberate

Kevin Karhan

@EUCommission as long as these are mere #fines, they'll be written off as (laughable!) business expenses.

You need to ban then from doing business until they comply and jail key staff until compliance is evidenced. Otherwise they'll just pay up and continue.

Also #NSAbook violates #HumanRights incl. #GDPR by collecting, storing and utilizing data of non-users without or even against their explicitly declined consent!

Different Drummer 3d ago

@EUCommission You should absolutely block both these entities completely from access to the EU.

Not to is to invite contempt and corruption.

Seek European alternatives.