Irish regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for online privacy violations and banned the company from forcing European users to agree to personalized ads based on their online activity.The watchdog fined Meta 210 million euros for violations of the European Union's strict data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros for breaches involving Instagram.The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation EU's privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect.When GDPR came into force, the company changed the legal basis under which it processes user data by adding a clause to the terms of service for advertisements, effectively forcing users to agree that their data could be used.Meta said in a statement that "we strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we're therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines.""