Meta Faces Major Fine in Spain Over Data Use for Advertising
A Spanish court,presided over by Judge Teodoro Ladrón Roda,has ruled against Meta,the parent company of Facebook,instagram,and WhatsApp,in a lawsuit brought by over 80 Spanish newspapers,including EL PAÍS,collectively represented by the Information Media Association (AMI). The ruling condemns Meta for gaining an unfair competitive advantage through the illegal processing of user data for personalized advertising.
The total damages awarded amount to over 540 million euros. This breaks down to 479 million euros plus 60 million euros in interest for the publishing companies and advertising rights holders, 2.5 million euros plus 328,000 euros in interest for the Europa Press agency,and over 14,000 euros for Radio Blanca.
the court found that meta leveraged data from millions of users in a manner inconsistent with legal stipulations, specifically violating European data protection regulations. The ruling asserts that Meta’s data processing for the sale of personalized advertising was illegal because it lacked the explicit consent required by law.
The lawsuit centered on Meta’s practices between the enforcement of the European Data Protection regulation in May 2018 and July 2023, when the suit was filed. AMI argued that Meta’s segmented advertising did not secure the necessary user permission for data utilization during this period. The plaintiffs initially estimated losses of 551 million euros due to this unfair competition, a figure closely reflected in the court’s decision.
The Spanish press accused Meta of “obtaining in a global, absolute, systematic and unlimited manner the personal data of its services on a European scale” without proper consent or legal justification. This practice, they argued, allowed Meta to significantly expand its advertising business at the expense of its competitors and threatened “the sustainability of the media” and “the right to information of Spanish citizens.”
The case, initially filed at the end of 2023, went to trial on October 1st and 2nd, 2024, following a prior hearing where no agreement was reached. The November 19th ruling, which is subject to appeal within 20 business days to the Provincial Court of Madrid, establishes a significant precedent that could influence similar cases in other European countries, including France, where a comparable lawsuit involving fifty media outlets is currently underway. The core issue at stake is Meta’s competitive advantage in the advertising market and the legality of its data-driven advertising practices.
