The Spanish media association AMI has sued the American social media group Meta for more than 550 million euros (the equivalent of about 521 million Swiss francs) in damages for unfair competition.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has been guilty of “continued systematic and massive non-compliance with European data protection regulations” since May 2018 and at least until July 2023. This is stated in the statement published on Monday by AMI, which brings together 83 of the most important media outlets in Spain.
Why is there a lawsuit?
As several resolutions from European authorities show, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company has “repeatedly violated EU data protection regulations and ignored the legal requirement that citizens consent to the use of their data for the creation of advertising profiles.”
As a result, the media involved in the lawsuit suffered advertising losses equal to the requested compensation amount. AMI President José Joly said behavior like Meta’s “endangers the survival of the media, which is fundamental to the democratic quality of a country.”
We therefore call on Spanish public and private companies to allocate their advertising campaigns to “safe, reliable and responsible media” “that respect the rights of citizens and are committed to the quality of democracy in Spain, in accordance with their policy of social responsibility.” .
Meta has had problems with the judiciary several times. The Irish data protection authority DPC imposed a record fine of 1.2 billion euros on the internet giant in May for breaching the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
A lawsuit filed in October by 41 US states caused a stir, accusing Meta of endangering the mental and physical health of children and young people.
(dsc/sda/awp/dpa)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
