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In a significant ruling on Thursday, a Spanish court found Facebook owner Meta liable for "unfair competition" and ordered it to pay local media outlets 479 million euros ($552 million) in compensation, along with 60 million euros in interest. The judgment sided with Spain's main media association (AMI), which filed a 2023 lawsuit accusing the US tech giant (also owner of Instagram and WhatsApp) of "systematically" violating EU regulations—which oblige companies to obtain users' consent for personalized advertising data—between May 2018 and July 2023.
A Madrid commercial court which heard the case last month ruled in favour of AMI, saying Meta had gained a "significant competitive advantage" in its digital advertising sales by violating the data protection rules.
AMI had been seeking 551 million euros in compensation.
"This isn't a case that affects only AMI's outlets, it has implications for media worldwide," AMI director general Irene Lanzaco told reporters on the opening day of the trial.
“What's at stake is the very survival of news media, which is being threatened by the predatory behaviour of a platform like Meta, acting with no regard for our legal framework." Meta executives told the trial that user data mattered less than algorithms to generate personalised advertising. The company's lawyer, Javier de Carvajal, had urged the court to dismiss the compensation claims, calling them "unsupported by evidence". The compensation is to be paid out to 87 media outlets.
Media groups represented by AMI include Prisa, owner of Spain's top-selling daily newspaper El Pais; Vocento, which publishes the conservative daily ABC; and Unidad Editorial, whose titles include daily El Mundo.
Spanish radio and television stations have launched a separate lawsuit against Meta for the same reasons, seeking 160 million euros in damages.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday said Spain would investigate Meta for allegedly violating millions of users' privacy, summoning the US tech giant to answer before parliament.
