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The
lawsuit was filed by the AMI newspaper publishing association in
a commercial court on Friday, the association said in a
statement on Monday.
The newspapers said Meta's "massive" and "systematic" use of
personal data from the users of its Facebook, Instagram and
Whatsapp platforms allows it to get an unfair advantage to
design and offer personalized ads that constitute unfair
competition.
The complainants, comprising Prisa - which publishes Spain's
main newspaper El Pais - and Vocento, the owner of ABC and other
media, as well as other privately-owned groups, said most of the
ads placed by Meta use personal data obtained without express
consent from clients and thus violate data protection rules.
Meta's press office did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The complaint is the second time Spanish media are challenging
tech companies to protect their turf.
In 2014, the Spanish government forced the closure of Alphabet's
Google News service until 2022 when new legislation allowing
media outlets to negotiate directly with the tech giant was
passed.
($1 = 0.9203 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Jakub Olesiuk;Editing by David
Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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