Do it, to make ALL social media suck less.

Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, that is one of the biggest techno-feudal oligarchs of our time. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), of the European Union is the “the toughest privacy and security law in the world”.

Says the Guardian that Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has just given Meta “three months to bring its data processing operations into compliance with [the decision to impose] a fine of €210m for the Facebook GDPR breach and €180m for Instagram."

This is GREAT news. If…

The practical effect of that ruling is that:

• “Facebook and Instagram users in the EU would now need to be asked whether they wanted their data to be used for ads”
• Users “must have a ‘yes or no’ option and can change their mind at any time."

Now, Facebook has been plagued for years by fake news and urban legends with some variation of “by posting this status I hereby deny Facebook the right to use my data and pictures…”.

But this is real, and it would be a huge improvement for all social media platforms, not just Facebook and Instagram.

IF Meta does not appeal and wins the appeal, or finds other ways to neuter that decision, of course. So, let’s all keep an eye on this, and next April, when those three months expire, demand to see that “option” in your Facebook or Instagram account, and see what happens. Stay tuned.