Briefly

EUROPE

EU accuses Meta of breaking privacy rules

The European Union accused US social media company Meta on Monday of breaching the bloc's Digital Markets Act, paving the way for potential fines worth billions of euros. The case focuses on Meta's new ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram, which has sparked multiple complaints over privacy concerns. Meta's "pay or consent" system means users have to pay to avoid data collection, or agree to share their data with Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free. "Meta has forced millions of users across the EU into a binary choice: 'pay or consent'," the EU's top tech enforcer, Commissioner Thierry Breton, said.

MAURITANIA

President Ghazouani secures reelection

Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has comfortably won reelection, receiving 56.12 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission said on Monday. Ghazouani placed well ahead of his main rival, human rights campaigner Biram Dah Abeid, who won 22.10 percent. The 67-year-old former army chief of staff and defense minister, who was first elected in 2019, has pledged to boost investment to spur a commodities boom in the West African country of 5 million people, as it prepares to start producing natural gas by the end of the year.

Agencies Via Xinhua