Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay €479 Million to Publishers as Parliament Opens Privacy Probe

Overview

• The Commercial Court of Madrid ruled that Meta engaged in unfair competition by violating GDPR through behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
• The award covers 87 digital news outlets and agencies for harm tied to Meta’s switch in 2018 from user consent to a contractual necessity basis for data processing.
• The judge estimated Meta earned at least €5.3 billion from advertising in Spain between 2018 and 2023 and treated those gains as obtained in breach of GDPR.
• Meta rejected the ruling as unfounded, argued it complies with applicable laws, and said it will appeal.
• Separately, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a parliamentary investigation into potential privacy violations, with Meta to be called to testify.