A record fine of €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) has been imposed on Meta by European Union regulators for violating EU data protection laws by transferring Facebook users’ personal data to servers in the US, CNN Business reports.

In a statement, the European Data Protection Board announced the fine, commenting that it was imposed after an investigation into Facebook by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the main regulator that oversees Meta’s activities in Europe. Such action highlights uncertainty over how global businesses can legally transfer EU users’ data to servers abroad.

But that’s not all. Meta has been ordered to stop processing personal data of European users in the US within six months.

“Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is huge. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious breaches have far-reaching consequences.”

commented Andrea Jelinek, Chair of the European Data Protection Board.

In her view, the company’s breach is very serious as it relates to transmissions that are systematic, repetitive and continuous.

The EU regulatory body said the processing and storage of personal data in the United States violates a signed European data protection law known as the General Data Protection Regulation.

This is the largest fine ever imposed under the GDPR. The previous record of €746 million ($805.7 million) was imposed on Amazon (AMZN) in 2021.