November 23, 2024

Facebook: Spanish media group files $598 million lawsuit against Facebook, here’s why

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Facebook parent Meta may have a problem in Spain. A group representing 83 Spanish media outlets has filed a 550 million euro ($598 million) lawsuit against the company for unfair competition in the advertising market.
The lawsuit was filed by the AMI newspaper publishing association in a commercial court last week, news agency Reuters cited the association as saying.
The group said that Meta’s “massive” and “systematic” use of personal data from the users of its Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp platforms allows it to get an unfair advantage to design and offer personalised ads that constitute unfair competition.
It added that most of the ads placed by Meta use personal data obtained without express consent from clients and thus violate data protection rules.
Privacy related cases against Meta
Recently, the company – which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook – received a setback after a US judge denied its motion for a court to take over a privacy-related case filed against Meta, wherein the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sought to reduce the amount of money the social media giant made from users under 18.
The case dates back to the Cambridge Analytica scandal days when Facebook agreed to pay a $5 billion fine to resolve alleged 2012 violations of misleading users about how much control they had over their personal data.
Meta, which was then known by the name Facebook, said that it would strengthen its privacy practices to settle the case.
However, the FTC accused Meta of more privacy violations in May this year, alleging the company of misleading parents about how much control they had over who their children had contact with in the Messenger Kids app.
In response, Meta sued the FTC in an attempt to stop the agency from reopening a 2020 privacy settlement with the company.



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