KUALA LUMPUR — A Spanish court has ruled that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, must pay €479 million (RM2.3 billion) to 87 Spanish digital newspapers and news agencies over unfair competition and data protection violations.
According to a decision released by Madrid’s Commercial Court today, the penalty relates to Meta’s extensive use of personal data for behavioural advertising, which the judge said gave the company a “significant competitive advantage” in Spain’s online advertising market.
According to Reuters, the ruling found that Meta unlawfully processed user information, breaching the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, by consequence, violating Spain’s antitrust laws. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The publishers’ complaint focused on a major policy shift Meta implemented when the GDPR took effect in May 2018.
At that time, the company switched its legal basis for processing personal data from user consent to what it described as “necessity for the performance of a contract” to justify targeted advertising. Regulators later determined that justification to be inadequate.
Although Meta reverted to a consent-based model in August 2023, the judge concluded that over the five-year period in question, Meta generated at least €5.3 billion (RM25.5 billion) in advertising profits, treating the entire amount as earnings obtained in breach of GDPR.
The case is one of several European actions initiated against the U.S. tech giant, with a similar lawsuit currently under review in France.
Last year, the European Commission fined Meta nearly €800 million (RM3.9 billion) for tying its Facebook Marketplace classifieds service to Facebook’s main platform and for imposing unfair conditions on competitors.
Spain’s government has also stepped up scrutiny of the company. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that a lower house committee would investigate allegations that Meta used hidden mechanisms to track the web activity of Android users.
Meta has said it would cooperate with Spanish authorities. – November 20, 2025