Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will go to trial in Spain in October 2025 over a €551 million ($582 million) lawsuit filed by more than 80 media companies. The lawsuit, lodged by the AMI media association, accuses Meta of unfair competition in advertising through its use of personal data.
The lawsuit claims that Meta’s “massive” and “systematic” use of personal data from its users gave the company an unfair advantage in creating and offering personalized advertisements, violating EU data protection regulations between 2018 and 2023. The case will be heard on October 1 and 2, 2025, at the 15th Madrid commercial court.
Notable complainants include major Spanish newspaper publishers Prisa, which owns El Pais, and Vocento, which owns ABC. In addition to this lawsuit, Spanish TV and radio broadcasters associations UTECA and AERC have filed a separate €160 million lawsuit against Meta, alleging similar unfair competition claims.
These lawsuits are part of a broader global effort by traditional media to challenge tech giants in courts and legislative bodies, demanding fair compensation for the use and sharing of their content. In some countries like Canada and Australia, similar attempts by legacy media have led to Meta blocking users from reposting news articles.
Meta has been reducing the prominence of news and political content in its platforms, with news links now representing only a small fraction of users’ feeds.
