Facebook and Instagram owner Meta asked the Government to “intervene” on its behalf in Brussels against European Union regulations that saw the social media giant handed a €200 million fine recently, records show.
Meta has taken aim at new EU digital rules that seek to regulate the power of big tech players and prevent them from abusing their dominant positions in the online sphere to stifle competition.
Meta called on the Government to “intervene” and push back against the regulations, “to minimise the harm done to Europe,” in a May 7th email to Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke.
The correspondence, seen by The Irish Times, lashed out at the “deeply interventionist” EU rules, for forcing the social media multinational to change aspects of its business model.
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Earlier this year Meta was handed a €200 million fine by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm that proposes and enforces EU laws.
Brussels regulators fined Meta over its “consent or pay” model – charging users a monthly subscription if they refused to allow the company to use their personal data to better target online ads.
The commission ruled that Meta did not give Facebook or Instagram users enough freedom to opt for a service that used less of their personal data, without paying.
The US tech giant was hit with the fine in April, following an investigation undertaken by the commission under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
Dualta Ó Broin, Meta’s top lobbyist in Ireland, wrote to Mr Burke the day the EU fine was announced.
[ EU fines Apple and Meta combined €700mOpens in new window ]
“We disagree with this decision and we will appeal. Today’s decision imposes a fine of €200m and is likely to require Meta to once again change its products to meet a new set of regulatory demands, which will exacerbate economic implications for European advertisers,” the April 23rd email said.
Meta accused the EU executive body of continuing down a “negative path” that would erode the value of targeted online advertisements for European businesses.
In further correspondence, Mr Ó Broin asked the Government to put pressure on the commission to row back. “We are urging member states to intervene to minimise the harm done to Europe,” the May 7th email stated.
Meta warned Mr Burke that businesses, charities, public bodies “and even political parties” would have to spend much more money on online advertisements to have the same impact, as a result of the EU ruling.
The US tech multinational argued for a pause on any new regulation of the tech sector, during a March 5th meeting with Mr Burke in Meta’s Irish headquarters. Notes of the meeting say Meta pushed for existing laws and rules to be simplified.
The company suggested Ireland could focus on “making the EU better for business” when the Government takes over the council of the EU presidency next year, a deal-making role that helps set the agenda in Brussels.
Mr Burke took note of the company’s points and said the Programme for Government included commitments to “remove unnecessary administrative burdens” on businesses, minutes of the discussion state.
In a further sit-down with Irish officials, Meta lobbyists again stressed the need to cut down on the “administrative overburden” digital regulations were putting on social media firms.
EU regulations should not be allowed to harm Europe’s economic competitiveness, the company said, according to minutes of the September 22nd meeting. Meta asked to be given a “single point of contact” within the Government, who would be across all tech rules.
The correspondence and minutes of meetings were released to The Irish Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
