A court in Spain has ordered Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to pay 479 million euros (Ksh.71.5 billion) to 87 Spanish digital media companies.
The ruling says Meta gained an unfair advantage in online advertising by using people’s personal data without following European Union (EU) data protection laws.
According to Madrid’s Commercial Court, Meta used personal data to run targeted (behavioural) ads on Facebook and Instagram. The court says this gave the company a “significant competitive advantage” over local media companies that follow strict data rules.
The court also said Meta violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Spain’s antitrust laws.
When GDPR came into effect in May 2018, Meta changed its legal basis for using personal data.
Instead of asking users for direct consent, Meta claimed the data use was “necessary for the performance of a contract.” EU regulators later ruled this approach illegal.
In August 2023, Meta switched back to asking users for consent—but by then, the court said the company had made at least 5.3 billion euros in advertising profits, all considered to have been earned through GDPR violations.
Meta disagreed with the ruling and says it will appeal. In a statement, the company said:
The claims have no evidence of real harm.
The ruling misunderstands how online advertising works.
Meta says it has always given users clear information and tools to control their data.
Part of a Wider Crackdown in Europe
This case is one of several legal challenges Meta is facing in Europe:
Last year, the European Commission fined Meta 800 million euros for linking its Facebook Marketplace service unfairly to Facebook.
Spain’s government is launching a new investigation into claims that Meta secretly tracked Android phone users’ web activity.
A similar lawsuit by media outlets is also underway in France.
Meta says it will cooperate with Spanish officials on the new investigation.
