MADRID (AP) — A Spanish affiliation representing greater than 80 newspapers has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Fb dad or mum Meta accusing it of unfair competitors in internet advertising by allegedly ignoring European Union guidelines on information safety.
In an announcement, the Info Media Affiliation mentioned it’s demanding 550 million euros ($600 million) from the social media large. The affiliation represents dozens of newspapers together with Spain’s principal dailies El País, El Mundo, ABC and La Vanguardia.
The affiliation accuses Meta of “systematic and large non-compliance” with EU information safety laws between Could 2018, once they took drive, and July 2023.
It mentioned Meta has repeatedly ignored the requirement that residents give their consent to using their information for promoting profiling.
The corporate declined to remark, saying it hadn’t seen the authorized papers.
Meta’s Fb and Instagram platforms have lengthy used behavioral promoting to become profitable. The apply includes monitoring particular person on-line habits corresponding to net searching habits, mouse clicks and app utilization, then utilizing that information to construct profiles for focusing on adverts to customers.
However courtroom rulings have eroded Meta’s capacity to justify its strategies below the EU’s information privateness laws. In July, the EU’s high courtroom dominated the corporate can’t drive customers within the 27-nation bloc to comply with personalised adverts, saying customers have to freely give their consent. Meta responded by providing ad-free variations of Fb and Instagram for European customers for a month-to-month charge.
The Spanish affiliation mentioned using private information of customers of Meta platforms, tracked with out their consent, allowed the U.S. firm to supply promoting area based mostly on an “illegitimately obtained aggressive benefit,” not directly threatening the livelihood of Spanish media.
It referred to as on advertisers in the private and non-private sectors “to entrust their promoting campaigns to secure, dependable and accountable media, respectful of the rights of residents and dedicated to selling democratic high quality in Spain.”
“The time has come to place an finish to the habits of know-how firms that may afford to pay million-dollar penalties to proceed failing to adjust to laws, destroying the market through which we function and making the illegitimately obtained revenue their very own,” mentioned Irene Lanzaco, director common of the affiliation.
The case was filed at Madrid’s mercantile courts.
___
Related Press author Kelvin Chan in London contributed.