Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay €479 Million Over Data Use & Advertising Practices

Key Takeaways

• Court Orders Compensation: Madrid’s Commercial Court ordered Meta to pay €479 million (about $552 million) to 87 Spanish digital media publishers and news agencies for unfair competition and GDPR violations.
• Behavioral Ads at Issue: The ruling focuses on Meta’s use of personal data for behavioral advertising after shifting its legal basis away from user consent when the GDPR took effect in 2018.
• Meta Plans to Appeal: Meta disputes the decision, calling the claim “baseless” in comments provided to Reuters, and says it complies with applicable laws and offers users transparency and control.
• Estimated Profits in Question: The judge calculated that Meta earned at least €5.3 billion in advertising profits during the five-year period deemed non-compliant.
• Broader Scrutiny in Europe: A similar claim is pending in France, and Spain’s government is separately investigating allegations that Meta tracked Android users’ web activity.

Deep Dives

A Spanish court has ordered Meta to pay €479 million (roughly $552 million) to Spanish digital media outlets after finding the company unlawfully leveraged user data to gain a competitive edge in the country’s online advertising market, a development first reported by Reuters. The ruling, issued by Madrid’s Commercial Court, directs compensation to 87 digital publishers and news agencies and centers on Meta’s use of personal data for behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

The judgment offers a broader look at how Spain views the intersection of data protection, digital competition, and advertising economics. The court concluded that Meta obtained a “significant competitive advantage” by processing personal data without a valid General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legal basis, a practice the judge determined violated both EU data protection rules and Spain’s antitrust law.

Meta pushed back immediately, saying it would appeal. A spokesperson told Reuters the case “lacks any evidence of alleged harm and willfully ignores how the online advertising industry works,” adding that Meta complies with applicable laws and provides users with transparency and control tools.

The case traces back to May 2018, when the GDPR came into force and Meta shifted its legal basis for behavioral advertising. Instead of relying on user consent, Meta argued that targeted ads were “necessary for the performance of a contract.” Regulators later rejected that rationale. In August 2023, Meta reverted to a consent-based approach, but the court assessed the full five-year period in between, estimating that Meta generated at least €5.3 billion in advertising profits and treating that amount as obtained in violation of the GDPR.

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