The Spanish media’s lawsuit against Meta is scheduled to start in October 2025

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 28, 2021, a pedestrian walks in front of the new logo and name “Meta” on a sign outside Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. – Shares of Facebook’s parent company Meta fell 24 percent in opening trading on February 3, 2022, weighing on the Nasdaq stock market and putting the stock’s four-day winning streak at risk. (Photo: JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

November 27, 2024

MADRID, Spain (AFP) – A Madrid court on Wednesday set a trial date for October 2025 in a €550 million lawsuit by more than 80 Spanish media outlets against Facebook owner Meta for allegedly violating EU data protection rules.

EU rules require companies to obtain users’ consent to create personalized ads based on their data.

Spain’s main media association AMI says the US tech giant, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, created “unfair competition” by “systematically” breaking the law from May 2018 to July 2023.

Meta offered advertising space based on an “illegally obtained competitive advantage” to the detriment of traditional news media that followed the law, said AMI, which represents the owners of El Pais, El Mundo and La Vanguardia newspapers.

Meta’s lawyer, Javier de Carvajal, told a preliminary hearing in Madrid’s commercial court on Wednesday that the company denies causing damage or violating EU rules.

The court set October 1 and 2 next year as the hearing dates for AMI and Meta Ireland, the company’s European headquarters.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Nicolas Gonzalez Cuellar, told reporters that Meta argues that personal data is not used for personalized advertising purposes and that it does not provide any competitive advantage.

Spanish radio and television stations have launched a separate lawsuit against Meta for the same reasons and are demanding 160 million euros ($169 million) in damages.

{“jamaica-observer”:”Jamaica Observer”}