Facebook is in compliance with EU rules and that can be costly
Facebook is big, very big, and big companies want to play with different rules than the rest. That works in many places too – especially in America – but the EU has nothing to do with how big you are. The company was tapped by the European Union earlier this year because their terms of use did not comply with European consumer law. The same thing was done with Airbnb and after that they neatly adapted what was asked of them. That despite the fear that they would not take the threat seriously, because the branch that deals with consumer rights does not have the same measure to beat than the EU’s competition department.
Quietly with those adjustments
Facebook has however calculated that there are no very serious consequences in the short term and has exactly nothing adapted. The most important thing they should have done is to clearly write down the user conditions. In addition, they also had to respond within a few days to submitted requests from the market authorities.
It has all been going on for months, but nothing has happened yet, and now the patience in Europe is running out, says Reuters. The anonymous sources that leak the news say that sanctions are going to come to Facebook now, but we do not know what form that will take. It will not be a billion-euro fine, because that penalty can not impose the consumer branch, but it must be something that makes an impression. A toothless threat from the EU only ensures that Facebook is no longer in a hurry to adjust the conditions. There is now a deadline for the end of the year and then it will hurt for Facebook, Commissioner Vera Jourova promises. And now see what Facebook is going to do.