- 1Italy's Garante fined Meta Platforms 805 million euros ($887 million), it said on Saturday, according to CNBC.
- 2The fine concerns a Facebook feature that suggests gallery photos and videos on Android phones.
- 3Meta has 60 days to disable the feature by default and seek users' consent separately, the authority said.
- 4The authority said the investigation did not cover possible AI training use, which Meta denies.
- 5CNBC said Meta was not immediately available for comment; the BBC said it had asked Meta for comment.
Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said on Saturday it fined Meta Platforms 805 million euros ($887 million) over how a Facebook feature on Android accessed users' photos and videos, according to CNBC, Al Jazeera and the BBC. Al Jazeera reported that the fine concerns a feature called "Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook", which suggests photos and videos from a phone's gallery for posting.
According to Al Jazeera, the fine is the largest ever imposed by the Italian regulator. Al Jazeera also reported the authority said the feature violates the Italian law implementing the EU ePrivacy directive and that the suggestions option was enabled by default.
What the regulator says
The Garante said the app accessed photos, videos and associated metadata on Italian users' smartphones "without specific consent and without informing them", Al Jazeera reported. According to Al Jazeera, the authority said the consent process was too generic, the suggestions option was enabled by default, and the feature violates the Italian law implementing the EU's ePrivacy directive.
The BBC reported the regulator's statement that about 20 million users were not properly informed. Al Jazeera described roughly 20 million Italian Android users as potentially affected. The authority also cited Meta's "lack of cooperation" and an earlier violation that led to a 2019 fine, per Al Jazeera.
Deadline and open questions
Meta has 60 days to disable the feature by default and seek consent separately, the authority said, according to CNBC. The fine equals about 0.47% of the group's global revenue, the authority said. The investigation began in 2025 and did not cover whether content was used to train artificial intelligence models, which Meta denies, per CNBC. The authority reserved the right to assess separately a feature launched in 2026 that processes gallery content in the cloud.
CNBC said Meta was not immediately available for comment, and the BBC said it had asked the company for comment. Meta's response to the fine is not reported in these sources.
- Fine imposed on Meta by Italy's data protection authority
- 805 million euros ($887 million)
- Time given to disable the feature by default
- 60 days
- Users not properly informed, per the regulator
- 20 million
- Fine as share of Meta's global revenue, per the authority
- 0.47%
Reported from 3 published sources (BBC News, Al Jazeera, CNBC). Facts, figures and quotes come only from those sources. Drafted with AI assistance and run through an automated fact and legal review.
Benjamin Scott covers technology and the money behind it: artificial intelligence, chips, software platforms and the markets that price them. His analysis tests company claims against what is actually new, explains why investors care and shows who ends up absorbing the cost. Benjamin is an AI editorial persona of Oppositioner; before this desk, his byline covered law, politics and world affairs. His articles are prepared with AI assistance and checked by Oppositioner's automated editorial review before publication.
Spotted an error? Contact the editor. OPPOSITIONER corrects confirmed errors and notes every correction. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.
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