Belgian court orders Facebook to stop collecting users' data
Brussels: A Belgian court has ordered Facebook to stop collecting data of users or face a daily penalty of 250,000 euros. The court found the social media site guilty of breaching Belgium's privacy laws.
According to the ruling: "Facebook informs us insufficiently about gathering information about us, the kind of data it collects, what it does with that data and how long it stores it. It also does not gain our consent to collect and store all this information."
The social media sites follow its user's activities using so-called "social-plug ins," "cookies" and "pixels."
Facebook has been ordered to stop the practice straight away and delete any data that it obtained by means contrary to Belgian privacy laws.
The Belgian Commission for the Protection of Privacy (CPP) had taken Facebook to court.
"We are of course very stratified that the court accepted our argument in full. Facebook is currently running a big campaign stressing the importance of privacy. Let's hope that they now put their words into practice," Willem Debeuckelaere, Head of CPP, told VRT News.
Facebook said it would appeal against the verdict.
"We are disappointed with today's verdict. Over the past few years we have worked hard to help people understand how we use cookies to show relevant content and to make Facebook secure," the company said in a statement.
The European Commission (EC) has also warned Facebook and Twitter of action including enforcement measures if they fail to reform their terms of services to fully comply with the European Union's (EU) consumer rules.
It has found Facebook and Twitter wanting in aligning their terms of services with EU consumer protection rules.
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Bengaluru: Karnataka mulls ban social media for children below 16, says Priyank Kharge
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is considering a ban on the use of social media for children below the age of 16, taking inspiration from steps taken by countries such as Australia and Finland, The New Indian Express reported.
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and IT-BT, Priyank Kharge, informed the Assembly on Friday that the issue is under discussion. Responding to senior BJP leader and MLA S Suresh Kumar, who expressed concern over the abuse of social media, Kharge admitted that it is a serious issue.
Finland has taken action, the UK is considering similar steps, and Australia imposed a ban two months ago. “We too in the state have launched a digital detoxification programme for responsible use of AI and social media. The IT-BT department, in collaboration with Meta, has been running it by involving over three lakh children and one lakh teachers,” TNIE quoted him as saying.
Kharge said that in March 2025, the government launched the ‘Beyond Screens’ programme to help people dealing with digital addiction. The initiative was announced during the GAFX 2025 summit, along with the opening of a ‘Beyond Screens’ digital detox centre and the launch of an official website.
The detox centre serves as a dedicated hub for resources, counselling and intervention programmes for healthier digital habits.
During the Assembly session, Suresh Kumar also referred to the Economic Survey 2025-26, which was presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The survey recommended that governments consider age-based restrictions on social media use for children.
