The Irish DPC's decision came after NOYB, a Vienna-based digital rights advocacy group, complained to the competent authorities (data protection authorities) in 11 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway, to “immediately stop Meta for AI's abuse of personal data.”
“Regulating known harms is necessary, but preemptive regulation of theoretical harms for nascent technologies such as open-source AI will stifle innovation. Europe’s complex and risk-averse regulation could prevent it from capitalising on big bets that can translate into big rewards,” Meta and Spotify’s joint statement said in reference to the Irish regulator’s decision.
Europe's regulatory challenges and their global impact
Despite Europe’s strong tradition of open source development, Zuckerberg and Ek argue that the region’s inconsistent regulatory framework is stifling innovation. They cite the uneven application of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a clear example of regulatory uncertainty that is hampering progress.
