Meta repeatedly lobbies Coalition over regulations and lay-offs

Tech giant Meta has repeatedly lobbied the highest levels of Government to ensure that the new online services watchdog, Coimisiún na Meán (the Media Commission), is fully staffed and resourced.

Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show that Meta’s president for global affairs, Nick Clegg, raised the issue of fully resourcing the new commission at least twice with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, both in person at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and in follow-up correspondence.

Mr Clegg, a former UK deputy prime minister, also raised the issue with Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney in correspondence.

Job losses at the company – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – and the record €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) were also among a string of issues raised in contacts with the State in the first half of 2023.

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Coimisiún na Meán will have a lead role in enforcing sweeping new European laws aimed at ensuring the world’s largest internet companies police content on their platforms.

Tech companies have been concerned in recent years that individual European countries seeking to grab regulatory power over them may try to change the so-called “country of origin” principle that sees them regulated in the countries where their headquarters are based.

In an email to Mr Varadkar, Mr Clegg wrote: “The rapid and full resourcing of the Media Commission is particularly important to us in the context of the implementation of the EU’s Digital Regulatory Framework.

“It is fundamental to Ireland achieving its aims as set out in the National Digital Strategy and will send a strong signal to those who question the viability of ‘country of origin’ within the EU.”

Mr Varadkar wrote back at the end of February saying: “As you know, the Government is mindful of Ireland’s important role in enforcing digital regulations.

“Along with most EU countries we strongly believe that the country of origin principle and one-stop-shop mechanisms are the best way to protect the single market and European innovation.”

He said the Government was “fully committed to providing the necessary legislation and resources in this regard”.

Meta, a major employer in Ireland, has been calling for enough resources to be provided to Coimisiún na Meán for at least two years.

Then known as Facebook, a submission it made to the Oireachtas Media Committee in March 2021 says the new commission “should be properly resourced and staffed with sufficiently qualified individuals who can carry out all of its statutory functions”.

A Government statement said it was “conscious of the need for Coimisiún na Meán to grow rapidly to fulfil its functions”. It said €10.5 million in funding was allocated to the commission and sanction had been provided, to date, for up to 164 staff. Of these, about 90 whole-time equivalent staff will be working on regulation of online services.

The Government has previously suggested the commission’s full complement will ultimately be 300.

A commission statement said: “Coimisiún na Meán believes adequate staff numbers and budget have been approved for its start-up phase and has been assured that further resources will be approved as required.”

In response to Irish Times queries, Meta did not offer a view on the number of staff it would consider adequate for the role the commission is to carry out.

There were more than 3,000 people working for Meta in Ireland in 2022 before three waves of redundancies that could ultimately see its Irish workforce decimated.

The Department of Enterprise refused to release the two redundancy notification letters sent to it by Meta, one in March and another in May, under Freedom of Information Act as they are said to contain “commercially sensitive information”. However, the job cuts do come up in other documents.

Prior to this year, about 350 jobs at Meta’s Irish operations were already due to go in a round of redundancies as part of 11,000 cuts from its global workforce announced in November.

Mr Clegg makes reference to this in an email to Mr Varadkar on January 30th saying: “I’d like to thank you once again for the Irish Government’s support as we worked through the redundancy process.”

In March, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced a further round of lay-offs that would see 10,000 people leave the organisation. As many as 540 jobs in Ireland were expected to go as a result of the announcements in March and May.

The Department of Enterprise released notes of an online meeting on March 11th between its senior officials, Meta and IDA Ireland the day after Mr Zuckerberg made his announcement.

Among the attendees were Dualta Ó Broin, Meta’s head of public policy in Ireland, and Declan Hughes, assistant secretary of the Department of Enterprise.

The notes relay how the department was “to receive a letter of proposed collective redundancies [50], of which all roles are in recruitment”.

The probability of further announcements of job cuts – which materialised for Irish workers in May – was also signalled.

At the meeting, Mr Hughes “offered the department’s full support to minimise, where possible, the number of job losses at the company or any future announcements”.

The Government said last week that Meta had not sought any direct support and it was “not aware of any additional planned redundancies”.

On May 22nd, the DPC imposed a €1.2 billion fine on Meta for violating European privacy rules. It followed a long investigation into transfers by Facebook of European citizens’ personal data to the United States.

The DPC, which had not proposed a financial penalty against Meta in the original draft decision, was “instructed” to impose a fine after a dispute resolution process at the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). This is a body of almost 50 national and regional data regulators that must approve any cross-border penalties for data violations.

Mr Ó Broin sent emails to Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney on the morning the fine was imposed saying Meta had acted “in good faith”, and the decision “highlights how the new EU-US data protection framework would address the concerns raised”.

“Despite this the EDPB has insisted on an unprecedented fine which we believe is deeply flawed, completely unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for all organisations transferring data between the EU and US,” he said.

Mr Ó Broin wrote that Meta would be appealing the decision.

Another issue raised by Meta with the Government here is its concerns over sections of the Electoral Reform Bill. Part 4 of the Bill relates to the regulation of political advertising during election campaigns, and part 5 has measures aimed at tackling the spread of misinformation and disinformation online, also during election periods.

These parts of the Bill have not yet commenced as the engagement continues with the European Commission on some issues that need to be addressed.

In recent years Facebook has been embroiled in electoral scandals in the US and UK that spurred anxiety about the power of its platform to tip the scales on polling day.

Mr Clegg told Mr Varadkar in his January 30th email that Meta welcomed the “opportunity to fully assess what the impact” these parts of the Bill “will be on all stakeholders, including platforms, the regulator and the democratic process”.

He said Meta would “of course submit our views to assist with this”.

Mr Clegg added: “The implementation of the EU’s revised code of practice on disinformation is under way and we strongly believe that the harmonised EU-wide approach it provides is the most effective way to address disinformation at all times – not just during electoral periods.”

In his response on February 27th, Mr Varadkar outlined the engagement with the European Commission and said there had also been ongoing engagement with the industry, adding: “Meta’s views and input are valued in this regard.”

He added: “The issue of disinformation is taken seriously by the Government.”