Facebook owner Meta hit with fine of $264 million for 2018 data breach

European Union privacy watchdogs hit Facebook owner Meta with fines totalling 251 million euros on Monday after an investigation into a 2018 data breach on the social media platform that exposed millions of accounts.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued the penalties after wrapping up its inquiry into the breach, when hackers gained access to user accounts by exploiting bugs in the platform’s code that allowed them to steal digital keys, known as “access tokens.”