This Monday, more than 80 Spanish media outlets filed a lawsuit against Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, accusing it of failing to comply with European regulations on the protection of personal data, the association that represents them reported.
The media, members of the Information Media Association (AMI), the main professional media organization in Spain, They claim 550 million euros (almost 600 dollars) in damages from the American group for “unfair competition”as reported by the AMI in a statement.
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They accuse Meta of having “systematically and massively” failed to comply with the “European data protection regulations” between May 25, 2018 and July 31, 2023.
This legislation requires the consent of Internet users for the use of their data in order to create individualized advertising profiles.
Practices that “would have allowed” the American company to “offer the sale of advertising space on the market based on an illegitimately obtained competitive advantage,” to the detriment of the traditional media, which did respect the regulations, says the AMI.
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Meta built “its dominant position in the advertising market by disregarding regulations,” causing “obvious damage to the Spanish media to the point of putting its sustainability at risk.”“, stated, in the statement, the president of the AMI, José Joly.
Among the communication groups represented by the association are Prisa, owner of the newspaper El País and the sports newspaper AS, the Godó group (La Vanguardia, Mundo Deportivo, etc.), Vocento, which publishes the newspaper ABC, or Unidad Editorial, publisher of the newspaper El Mundo.
3️⃣ The president of AMI, José Joly Martínez de Salazar, maintains that Meta has built a dominant position in the advertising market by disregarding the regulations that protect the privacy of users, putting the sustainability of the media at risk.
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Contacted by AFP, Meta did not immediately react to the news.
This complaint comes at a time when the North American group launched a new system in early November in Europe that allows users to stop seeing personalized advertising in exchange for a subscription.or continue using their services for free in exchange for transferring your personal data.
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This new model is the subject of several complaints in Austria and Brussels, and has been reported in France to the General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF).
Facebook and Instagram have 144 million and 133 million regular users respectively in Europe, excluding the UK, according to Insider Intelligence.
AFP
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