Seoul: South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has fined US tech conglomerate Meta 6.6 million won ($5,240) for violating privacy laws, South Korean media reported on Wednesday.

South Korea's data protection watchdog investigated Meta over allegations that it banned users from Facebook and Instagram (both banned in Russia over extremism) if they refused to provide personal information about their activities on other platforms and sites, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Such actions on the part of Meta were regarded as a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, due to the fact that the behavioral information is not included in the minimum personal information required to provide Meta’s online services, Yonhap reported.

In September 2022, South Korea also imposed a fine of 30.8 billion won ($24.5 million) on Meta for collecting personal information without users' consent and using it for personalized online advertising and other purposes.

The commission also ruled that the media giant needs to clearly ask users' consent if it collects behavior data on websites or applications outside of its own platforms.