Another asset for the real estate collection of the billionaire and Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, along with his wife, Priscilla Chan. During this same week, the U.S. company has been forced to agree with U.S. prosecutors to pay a fine of 17,000 million euros for the addictive component of the algorithms of its social networks and the consequences they have had on minors in the country. Additionally, they have also agreed to a package of measures to restrict the use of these networks by minors in the U.S., for example, with a ban at night and a two-hour daily limit.
The castle, located in County Waterford, in southeast Ireland, dates back to the 19th century, covers about 200 hectares, and the transaction is estimated to be between 20 and 30 million euros. Strancally Castle, a neo-Gothic style residence, was built around 1830 for John Keily, a former conservative deputy, and is located about 200 kilometers from Meta's headquarters in Dublin.
Michael and Giancarla Alen-Buckley are the former owners who have reached an agreement with one of the most powerful men in the world, whose company was facing the most important trial in its history: if they had lost in court, they could have faced a fine of 1.4 trillion dollars. After the out-of-court agreement, they acknowledge their share of the blame for not setting efficient limits to prevent Instagram and Facebook from causing addiction, but the fine remains at 17,000 million euros to be paid over the next 10 years, although they will only pay 70% of that amount if their competitors with similar algorithms, TikTok and YouTube, do not implement the measures that Meta has agreed to apply.
Following the purchase of the castle in Ireland, a member of the European Union, and after the agreement between U.S. prosecutors and Meta, Brussels expects the tech giant to also address the addictive features of its platforms in Europe. In fact, the European Commission (the EU's executive arm) concluded last month that Meta violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), one of several rules adopted to regulate big tech companies within the bloc, and the EU ordered Meta to propose ways to make its platforms safer for minors, as reported by AFP.
"Mark and his family are delighted to continue caring for this historic home and look forward to spending time in Ireland, where Meta maintains its international headquarters," a spokesperson for the U.S. company told The Irish Times. The three-story building has an area of 1,500 square meters and now becomes the property of Meta's top executive. The sellers, the Alen-Buckley family, told the Irish media, "We fondly leave our home of 25 years. We are pleased that Mark and his family intend to continue our management work. We wish them and their family much happiness in this place."
The castle is located less than 10 kilometers from the ruins of the original castle, which is tainted by the usual dark legend in local folklore: it is said that one of the Earls of Desmond, who owned the castle, would invite wealthy people to dine in his fortress and then, through a tunnel connecting to the river, murder them and throw them into its bed, although there is no documentary evidence that this actually happened.