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Spanish Media’s €551 Million Case Against Meta Goes to Judgment in Madrid

Publishers accuse the company of exploiting Europeans’ data to gain an advertising edge, as Meta insists its practices comply with EU law.

España: 80 medios reclaman millonaria indemnización a Meta por los daños de su modelo publicitario
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Facebook compensará económicamente a millones de usuarios por haber usado su información sin permiso
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Overview

  • A Madrid commercial court concluded two days of hearings on Oct. 2 and declared the case seen for judgment, with a ruling typically expected within about 20 working days.
  • The Asociación de Medios de Información, representing 83 outlets, seeks €551 million over alleged GDPR breaches from May 2018 to July 2023 and claims unfair competition in digital advertising.
  • Meta argues the suit is unfounded, says it provides transparent controls and complies with EU rules, and testified that ad performance hinges on algorithms and processing rather than the volume of personal data.
  • Proceedings at Commercial Court No. 15 under Judge Teodoro Ladrón Roda included executive testimony on data categories and ad auctions, while AMI’s lawyers said evidence showed unlawful profiling and harm to media sustainability.
  • The dispute forms part of a broader European landscape that includes a separate €160 million claim by Spanish broadcasters, a parallel lawsuit by French media, and a previously reported €200 million EU fine that Meta has appealed.