The group of television and advertising companies of Atresmedia, Mediaset and TRECE, members of the Union of Open Commercial Televisions (UTECA), and the radio groups headed by Cadena Ser, COPE, Onda Cero and RAC1, belonging to the Spanish Radio Association Commercial (AERC), have filed a joint lawsuit against META for unfair competition.
The lawsuit indicates that the continued non-compliance with the European Data Protection Regulation (REPD), at least between May 25, 2018, the date of its entry into force, until October 31, 2023, as well as the resolutions issued by the competent European authorities, has allowed the North American company that owns Facebook and Instagram to obtain an illicit competitive advantage over plaintiffs in the market for segmented and personalized online advertising.
The main television and radio stations, through their legal action, join the claim initiated by the lawsuit filed in December 2023 against META by press media grouped in AMI.
As a consequence of the massive non-compliance with the regulations and the different resolutions of the European authorities on the matter, META has illegally acquired an unfair competitive advantage that has allowed it to increase its market share in a key advertising modality in the online advertising ecosystem.
So much so that if, as required by European data protection regulations since May 25, 2018, Instagram and Facebook had obtained prior consent from citizens for their advertising profiling, their database and their corresponding ability to offer a Personalized and segmented advertising would have been significantly reduced.
The lawsuit sets the economic damage at more than 160 million euros, as of the date of filing the lawsuit, corresponding to the amount not paid by the plaintiffs due to the illegal actions carried out by META.
The plaintiffs reserve the possibility of extending the period subject to the lawsuit, once the European data protection authorities confirm whether META, as announced, is legally collecting user consent from November 2023.
The lawsuit has been presented by the office directed by the lawyer and professor of Procedural Law at the UCLM Nicolás González-Cuéllar.
