Brussels has warned Facebook it will face sanctions unless it changes what the European commission calls its “misleading” terms and conditions.
The EU commissioner in charge of consumer protection, Věra Jourová, said she had run out of patience with the social network after nearly two years of discussions aimed at giving Facebook’s European users more information about how their data is used.
“I will not hide the fact that I am becoming rather impatient because we have been in dialogue with Facebook almost two years,” Jourová told reporters. “Progress is not enough for me, I want to see results.”
Facebook has been given until the end of the year to change its terms of service. “Facebook will face sanctions from national authorities,” she said. “They will look into sanctions after the new year in case they do not see sufficient progress.”
Penalties for breaching consumer law differ across the EU’s 28 member states and the commissioner did not specify any financial penalty.
The social media company is facing complaints from the EU on several fronts, from its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal to online hate speech. The latest action focuses on how Facebook uses data, as well as its policy on taking down posts and pictures.