Spanish Media Unleash $598 Million Lawsuit on Meta, Claiming Unfair Ad Advantage
A coalition of 83 Spanish media outlets has filed a lawsuit against Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook,
Spanish Media Unleash $598 Million Lawsuit on Meta, Claiming Unfair Ad Advantage
A coalition of 83 Spanish media outlets has filed a lawsuit against Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, alleging unfair competition in the advertising market. The lawsuit seeks $598 million (€550 million) in damages.
At the heart of the dispute is Meta's control over segmented advertising revenue. AMI claims this practice violates European privacy regulations, allowing Meta to unfairly pocket 100 per cent of the profits.
Aiming for the dominance of tech giants, AMI has urged advertisers to shift their ad spending towards "safe, reliable, and responsible" media outlets, a move aimed at levelling the playing field.
In July 2023, an Australian court dealt a blow to Meta, ordering the tech giant and its subsidiary Onavo to pay a combined AUS$20 million (nearly $14 million) in fines for misleading consumers about data practices. The ruling stemmed from allegations that Onavo, a VPN service acquired by Meta in 2013, collected and shared user data with its parent company without proper consent. This decision marked a significant victory for consumer privacy advocates and sent a strong message to tech companies about the importance of transparency in data handling.
In December 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Meta to court over its controversial VPN app, Onavo. The ACCC alleged that Onavo misled users about its data collection practices, essentially siphoning off private information to benefit Meta's advertising empire.
The Federal Court found Facebook Israel and Onavo Inc., both subsidiaries of Meta, liable for misleading consumers under the Australian Consumer Law. Consequently, each company has been ordered to pay a penalty of AUS$10 million.
The Federal Court found that Onavo Protect's developers and suppliers, subsidiaries of Meta, misled consumers through inaccurate app descriptions in both Google and Apple's App Stores.