Meta faces massive lawsuit in Spain

More than 80 Spanish media outlets are suing Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, for around €550 million over damages caused by its advertising model.

The highly anticipated trial began in Madrid. The hearing started in an administrative court in the Spanish capital, CE Report quotes ATA.

The News Media Association (AMI), the main media industry association in Spain, filed a lawsuit in December 2023 against Meta Ireland, the U.S. tech giant’s European headquarters.

It is seeking €551 million for unfair competition in the sale of digital advertising.

“What is at stake here is the survival of the news media, threatened by the predatory behavior of a platform like Meta, which operates without respecting our legal framework,” said Irene Lanzaco, the association’s executive director, before the hearing began.

“Meta carried out mass profiling of the behavior of all internet users, and based on this profiling—without informing them or obtaining their consent—the group allegedly sold targeted ads, generating huge profits from an illegal action from a regulatory perspective,” she insisted.

AMI accuses Meta of violating European data protection regulations between May 2018 and July 2023, using internet users’ data without their consent to create individualized advertising profiles.

In addition to AMI, Spanish radio and television stations filed another lawsuit against Meta for the same reasons, seeking €160 million in damages.

In France, around 200 French media groups, including newspapers and major television channels, filed a similar lawsuit against Meta last April.