Madrid’s Commercial Court has ordered Meta Platforms (META) to pay $552M (€479M) to 87 Spanish digital media outlets, alleging that the social media and tech giant engaged in anticompetitive practices by using personal data and showing targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram.
The Spanish court said Thursday the company had a “significant competitive advantage” in the country’s digital ad space by making use of the data; Meta disagreed with the ruling and said it would appeal it.
The court alleged the company breached the EU’s GDPR laws through such unfair practices, which also amounted to violating Spain’s antitrust laws.
“This is a baseless claim that lacks any evidence of alleged harm and willfully ignores how the online advertising industry works. Meta complies with all applicable laws and has provided clear choices, transparent information and given users a range of tools to control their experience on our services,” a spokesperson for Meta said in a statement.
The court ruling comes a day after Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the country will launch a probe into Meta for privacy violations of millions of users who used the company’s social media apps.