[8bithero]

Sorry if this is a silly question: The article states that if the companies fail to comply then they can be issued with fines worth 6% of the company’s annual revenue. What would happen in the even where one of the companies just said "Nope. We're not paying it."? In that case I assume the offending company would be dragged into lengthy and expensive legal battles against the EU. But is it likely that the EU could or would also block access to the services offered by these companies?

[Closi]

> In that case I assume the offending company would be dragged into lengthy and expensive legal battles against the EU. But is it likely that the EU could or would also block access to the services offered by these companies?

If they didn't pay then eventually the government would probably seize assets to cover the debt, and they would face increasingly more severe legal action until they paid.

It shouldn't really an option to just ignore the law.

[anonyfox]

Yes it is. So far every offender ultimately complied, so there was no need to go the last mile in reality.

But I guess having suddenly zero access to one of the worlds biggest markets (europe) would make wall street a bit nervous about the companies‘ revenue targets. Not to mention customers immediately jumping to some competitors, which might hurt a bit in the long run.

[dist-epoch]

You can make it illegal to do business with FB in EU (sanction it basically). You can seize whatever assets (buildings) or bank accounts they might have here.

[blitzar]

You stick the CEO in jail.

[brainwad]

The CEO of Meta, who lives in the US? Good luck with that.

[r00fus]

No need for that; EU can essentially poison EU markets for FB (sanctions/fines/blocks). Most shareholders will act accordingly and tank the stock. Even if Mark can ignore because he holds most of the voting interest, this directly impacts all vested workers, so becomes an HR nightmare.

[majkinetor]

Why would you? Companies exist for a very reason to separate legal from private entity. CEO is not a company.

[f1shy]

You can only do that if he is doing something listed in the penal law, not the commercial law.

[jobs_throwaway]

Good luck!