A Spanish court has ordered Facebook owner Meta to pay 479 million euros ($552 million) to Spanish digital media outlets for unfair competition practices and infringing European Union data protection regulation, a ruling the social media giant will appeal.
Madrid's commercial court said on Thursday that the compensation, to be paid out to 87 digital press publishers and news agencies, was linked to Meta's use of personal data for behavioural advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
It said the US tech giant had obtained a "significant competitive advantage" in Spain's online advertising market by unlawfully processing user data.
Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and would lodge an appeal.
"This is a baseless claim that lacks any evidence of alleged harm and wilfully ignores how the online advertising industry works," a Meta spokesperson said to Reuters.
"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," the spokesperson added.
The court said Meta had violated the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), therefore also breaching Spain's antitrust law.
The complaint brought by the Spanish outlets focussed on Meta's change of legal basis for processing personal data when the GDPR took effect in May 2018.
Meta shifted from user consent to "necessity for the performance of a contract" to justify behavioural advertising. Regulators later deemed that basis inadequate.
In August 2023, Meta reverted to consent as its legal basis. The judge estimated that in those five years, Meta earned at least 5.3 billion euros in profits from advertising and treated the entire amount as obtained in breach of the GDPR.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said a lower house committee would investigate the company for possible privacy violations involving Facebook and Instagram users in the country.
Beyond Spain, regulators and courts in Australia, Germany and France are also escalating action against the tech giant.
In Australia, Meta and other major technology platforms could face millions in fines for refusing to sign content deals with local news outlets, The Guardian reported on November 12.
Under Labor’s proposed media bargaining incentive, social media and search platforms with Australian derived revenue of at least $250 million would be liable for penalties regardless of whether they host news content.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has released new details on the scheme. The government has been cautious in finalising the framework due to concerns that United States President Donald Trump might retaliate over measures targeting American based platforms.
Meta has so far refused to sign new deals under the current code, while Google has renewed some agreements with publishers. Platforms can avoid the rules by pulling news entirely, a step Meta took in Canada in 2023.
German regulators also delivered a setback to Meta. The Regional Court of Leipzig ruled on 10 July 2025 that a Facebook user was entitled to 5,000 euros (5,900 dollars) after suing the company for embedding tracking pixels in third party websites.
The ruling found that Meta’s tracking pixels and software development kits collect user data without consent, in violation of GDPR.
The court acknowledged that the decision sets a precedent allowing other users to sue without having to demonstrate individual damages.
French media companies have launched their own challenge. A group of 67 firms representing 200 publications, including TF1, France TV and BFM TV, filed a lawsuit on 23 April 2025 before the Paris business tribunal.
They accuse Meta of unlawful business practices and allege that its dominance in digital advertising relies heavily on the large scale collection of personal data for targeted ads.
The case follows a series of European complaints over Meta’s advertising model. In February, online rights groups filed fresh challenges to the company’s ad practices.
The European Commission had already fined Meta 797.72 million euros in November 2024 for abusing its dominance by tying Facebook Marketplace to its main social platform and imposing unfair trading terms on other classified ads providers.
The Commission’s investigation found that Meta holds a dominant position in the European Economic Area wide market for personal social networks and also in national markets for online display advertising on social media.
Meta faced earlier penalties in 2023, when the Irish Data Protection Commission ordered the company to pay two separate fines totalling 390 million euros (414 million dollars) over breaches of GDPR by Facebook and Instagram.
The Irish regulator found that Meta’s advertising and data handling practices violated EU privacy rules following investigations that began on 25 May 2018, the day GDPR came into force.
These actions signal escalating global scrutiny of Meta’s data practices and its influence in digital advertising markets, with courts and regulators in multiple countries moving to challenge its business model.
With inputs from Reuters