A Spanish court has ordered , the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to pay more than 540 million euros to local media, with the court finding the US giant guilty of “unfair competition” and breaching data protection regulations – a potentially landmark ruling.
The lawsuit against Meta was about creating personalized advertising profiles and making a huge profit at the expense of Spanish media that complied with privacy laws. The lawsuit was filed by several media outlets, including members of the Media Association (AMI), who hailed the decision as “a crucial victory for journalism, competition and democracy”.
The Commercial Court of Madrid has ordered Meta to pay 479 million euros to 87 Spanish digital publishers and news agencies that are members of AMI for gaining a significant competitive advantage through advertising on social media Facebook and Instagram in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is underlined in a press release.
The decision also mentions more than 60 million euros in uncollected legal interest, in addition to this amount, as well as compensation for the agency Europa Press, which is not a member of AMI. Meta, for its part, announced that it would appeal the decision, which it called “unfounded” and which “willfully ignores how the online advertising industry works.”
The tech giant claimed it “complies with all laws” and “provides users with a range of tools to control their experience on our services”.
Blocking Meta minors in Australia
The from social networking platforms as early as December 4, six days before a law banning access to social media for children under that age came into force.
“Starting today, Meta is notifying Australian users it believes are 13 to 15 years old that they will lose access to Instagram, Threads and Facebook,” the US tech company said. While adding, that “It will begin blocking the creation of new accounts by persons under the age of 16 and preventing access to existing ones from December 4th, while it plans to delete all accounts known to belong to children under the age of 16 by December 10th,” the statement clarified.
The company added that it is asking young users of its platforms to update their contact information so they can be notified when they can get an account again.
He also informed them that they can download and save their posts, videos and messages before their account is closed, although he assured that they will be able to access their accounts “just as they left them”, once they turn 16.
According to government figures, there are approximately 350,000 Instagram users and 150,000 Facebook users aged 13 to 15 in Australia.
From December 10 social media in Australia are required to block users who are under 16 years old. In case of violation, they risk a fine of almost 28 million euros (49.5 million Australian dollars).
“We share the Australian Government’s aim to create safe and age-appropriate online experiences, but cutting off teenagers from their friends and communities is not the answer,” Meta argued.
The company would like a law that would require children under 16 to have their parents’ approval to get a social media account.
Australia’s legislation, one of the world’s strictest on paper, is closely watched by other countries that are also seeking to set frameworks for children’s use of social media.
However, many experts believe that this law is mainly symbolic because of the difficulties in confirming the age of internet users.
