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The bill forces big platforms to compensate news publishers for content posted on their sites.

Meta and Google have both already been testing limiting access to news to some Canadians.

In 2021, Australian users were blocked from sharing or viewing news on Facebook in response to a similar law.

Canada's Online News Act, which cleared the senate on Thursday, lays out rules requiring platforms like Meta and Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news organisations for their content.

Issued by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC), it is the largest fine imposed under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation privacy law.

GDPR sets out rules companies must follow to transfer user data outside of the EU.

Meta says it will appeal against the "unjustified and unnecessary" ruling.

At the crux of this decision is the use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to move European Union data to the US.

The legal action alleged the social-media company shared 87 million users' data without their consent, via third parties such as Cambridge Analytica.

The allegation, dating back to 2018, remains one of the highest-profile data-privacy scandals.

Meta, which owns Facebook, has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement.

Anyone who used Facebook in the US between 24 May 2007 to 22 December 2022 can claim - "in the range of 250-280 million" people, according to the ruling document.

Meta Verified will cost $11.99 (£9.96) a month on web, or $14.99 for iPhone users.

It will be available in Australia and New Zealand this week.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta chief executive, said the move will improve security and authenticity on the social media apps.

The move comes after Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, implemented the premium Twitter Blue subscription in November 2022.

Meta's paid subscription service is not yet available for businesses, but any individual can pay for verification.

The long-running dispute accused the social media giant of allowing third parties, including the British firm, to access Facebook users' personal data.

The proposed sum is the largest in a US data privacy class action, lawyers say.

Meta, which did not admit wrongdoing, said it had "revamped" its approach to privacy over the past three years.

In a statement, the company said settling was "in the best interest of our community and shareholders".

"We look forward to continuing to build services people love and trust with privacy at the forefront."

Videos on cryptocurrency using images of billionaire businessman Elon Musk appeared on the YouTube channel.

The Twitter feed appeared to retweet several posts related to NFTs - a type of electronic artwork for investment.

The Army confirmed the "breach", saying it took information security "extremely seriously" and was resolving the issue. Both accounts have now been restored.

An Army spokesperson added: "Whilst we have now resolved the issue an investigation is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further."

The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said there had been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook since October 2020, including restrictions in recent days of state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency.

The move is a major escalation in an ongoing confrontation between big tech companies and Russia, which has in recent years issued a slew of fines and hobbled services through slowdowns. The tensions have ramped up amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation."

Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor accused the network of "censorship" and violating "the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens".

Facebook said it had refused to stop fact-checking and labelling content from state-owned news organisations.

The move came a day after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.

It is unclear what the regulator restrictions mean, or to what extent Facebook's parent company Meta's other platforms - WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram - are affected.

Its shares fell 26.4% after quarterly figures disappointed investors.

Meta also said that Facebook's daily active users (DAUs) had dropped for the first time in its 18-year history.

The company's share price slide saw chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's net worth fall by $31bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The drop in Mr Zuckerberg's personal fortune was equivalent to the annual gross domestic product of Estonia.

Facebook's parent company Meta Networks says DAUs fell to 1.929bn in the three months to the end of December, compared to 1.930bn in the previous quarter.

The firm also warned of slowing revenue growth in the face of competition from rivals like TikTok and YouTube, while advertisers are also cutting spending.

Meta's shares slumped by more than 20% in after-hours trading in New York.

The slide in Meta's share price wiped around $200bn (£147.5bn) off the company's stock market value.