Meta to Comply with EU Regulations on Political Advertising, Citing “Impracticable” Requirements
Brussels, Belgium – Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced its intention to comply with new European Union regulations concerning political advertising, despite deeming the requirements “impracticable.” The company stated that these rules will specifically target advertisements and will not restrict citizens or political leaders from producing and sharing their own political content on their personal pages.
The EU’s regulations, adopted in 2024, aim to prevent foreign interference in elections. Key provisions include requiring platforms to clearly label political advertisements and disclose their funding sources. Furthermore, the regulations will prohibit the use of personal data related to ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, and the data of minors for targeting purposes.
Meta’s decision to comply comes after meaningful pressure and legal challenges. The company, which serves over 260 million monthly users in europe across its Facebook and Instagram platforms, has previously argued that the EU’s demands are unfeasible. The regulatory push by the EU was significantly influenced by the 2018 cambridge Analytica scandal, where a British consulting firm illicitly accessed and utilized the personal data of millions of Facebook users for political targeting during the 2016 US presidential campaign and the Brexit referendum.
As the election of Donald Trump, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a vocal critic of the EU, accusing the bloc of censorship. Meta has faced ample penalties from European regulators, accumulating over 2.5 billion euros in fines for non-compliance with data privacy laws in various legal proceedings.
This advancement follows a recent study indicating a sharp increase in online hate speech after Meta ceased its “fact-checking” operations. Additionally,Meta is facing legal action in France concerning alleged copyright violations related to its artificial intelligence initiatives.