Think social media protects your data? Platforms have racked up $26 billion in privacy penalties since 2020

Social platforms have incurred over $26 billion in privacy fines and settlements globally since 2020.

Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) accounted for $23.7 billion (91%) of all penalties.

The US led enforcement with $20.9 billion in fines, followed by European regulators at $5.16 billion.

Social media platforms thrive on personal data, but failing to protect it is proving exceptionally costly.

Since 2020, the world’s top 10 social networks have accumulated more than $26 billion in privacy-related fines and regulatory settlements worldwide.

According to a study published by cybersecurity firm Surfshark , the lion's share of this astronomical financial penalty belongs to one parent company: Meta.

Between Facebook and Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech empire is responsible for an overwhelming 91% of the worldwide total, racking up $23.7 billion in penalties.

Meta dominates the penalty board Facebook alone accumulated $14.3 billion in penalties, while Instagram accounted for $9.4 billion.

TikTok placed a distant third, tallying $1.6 billion in fines across global jurisdictions.

Other familiar platforms also faced notable regulatory actions.

LinkedIn accrued $360 million, YouTube followed with $222 million, and X (formerly Twitter) totaled $151 million.

Further down the list, Snapchat recorded $35 million in fines, Reddit registered $19 million, and Discord logged $928,000.

Pinterest stood out as the sole platform in the study with zero qualifying privacy penalties.

The United States spearheaded the financial enforcement, imposing $20.9 billion, roughly 80% of all global fines examined.