The social media giant must pay $24,660,000 to settle 822 breaches.
Meta has consistently raised objections to the regulations.
Lately, the technology conglomerate Meta has become a hot topic of conversation. The corporation announced its earnings recently. The company’s bottom line took a serious blow due to investments in the metaverse. And a decline in revenue from social media and online advertising. In the midst of this, the state of Washington has demanded that the corporation pay a fine of almost $25 million. For breaking the state’s prohibition on internet political advertisements.
Struggle Continues For Meta
Judge Douglass North in Seattle ordered that the social media giant must pay $24,660,000 to settle 822 breaches of Washington State’s legislation requiring disclosure of political ad spending. The judge claims that Meta has committed hundreds of infractions of state law. Over the course of the previous several years.
The same was outlined in the announcement, stating:
“Advertising vendors like Meta are obligated by Washington’s transparency statute to preserve and make public the names and addresses of persons who purchase political advertisements, as well as the advertisements’ intended audience, payment method, and the total number of views. When asked, advertisers must comply with requests for further information.”
However, Meta has consistently raised objections to the regulations. Arguing that the rule is unconstitutional since it “unduly burdens political speech” and is “virtually impossible to fully comply with”. The corporation does maintain an archive of political advertising that has appeared on the platform, but it does not include all the data that must be made public in accordance with Washington state law.
Here, it’s important to remember that the corporation agreed to pay $238,000 and pledged openness in political advertising and campaign financing back in 2018.