EU institutions serve one month ultimatum to Facebook, Google & Twitter over illegal terms of service
EU consumer protection agencies have come together to serve notice to Facebook, Google and Twitter to amend their controversial terms of service within a month, which contravene consumer protection law, under threat of possible fines.
All three US tech giants are said to have held ‘constructive’ talks with authorities but as yet no consensus has been reached to break the impasse, which first came to a head in December when a letter was issued to the trio advising them that their terms of service contravened EU consumer protection law and demanding greater action to combat frauds and scams.
Sticking point to progress comes from demands that the companies remove a requirement for users to seek legal redress from California court rather than their country of residence, poorly labelled sponsored content, requirements for consumers to waive mandatory rights and what is deemed to be an excessive power to determine the appropriateness of user generated content.
Neither Facebook, Google nor Twitter have commented on the enforcement action. This isn't the first time such organisations have had a run-in with EU lawmakers however, with Facebook accused of 'misleading' the European Commission during its takeover of Whatsapp.