On December 4th, the Spanish Association of Media and Information (AMI) announced its lawsuit against META for alleged unfair competition and claims exceeding 550 million euros (equivalent to 4.255 billion yuan).
This lawsuit is considered the latest legal attempt by traditional media to combat tech giants.
Meta did not immediately respond to media requests for comment. According to media reports, an insider stated that Meta has not yet received legal documents.
According to Southern Metropolitan Daily reporters, AMI represents 83 mainstream newspapers in Spain, including El Pa í s, El Mundo, and La Vanguard.
AMI accuses Meta of "systematic and large-scale non-compliance with European data protection regulations" during the period from May 25, 2018 to July 31, 2023, using user personal data on its digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, which gave Meta an unfair competitive advantage in the digital advertising market.
It is worth noting that May 25, 2018 was a historic milestone for the European Union to introduce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to GDPR requirements, digital platforms must obtain user permission to process their data.
However, AMI pointed out that Meta does not implement this rule on its platform, allowing it to collect personal data, which means "100% of the revenue from selling targeted advertising for this tech giant is illegally obtained."
It is reported that AMI's compensation of 550 million euros is based on Meta's advertising revenue growth during the five-year period in question, as well as an estimate of how much revenue Spanish media can generate without Meta's illegal activities.
AMI Chairman Jos é Joly warned that Meta's approach "endangers the survival of Spanish media, which is crucial for the quality of democracy in a country.". He also stated that the media is the second largest digital industry in Spain, second only to the technology industry itself.
A report from the Spanish National Market Competition Commission (CNMC) shows that in 2019, Spain's online advertising revenue was approximately 3.45 billion euros, which has exceeded the advertising revenue obtained by traditional media.
Excerpt from CNMC's 2021 report
CNMC pointed out that the online advertising industry in Spain is showing a significant concentration trend, with Google and Facebook controlling over 70% of the online advertising market share. "Considering that this is a market that has emerged in the past 20 years and there are not enough regulatory restrictions, these numbers are indeed eye-catching," CNMC once commented.
As early as 2019, the European Union established the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which specifies that digital platforms pay for news content.
In 2021, the Australian Competition and Consumer Council issued a landmark draft of the Draft News Media Bargaining Code. Australia became the first country in the world to enact laws that force technology platforms to negotiate payment matters with local media industries.
Following closely behind Australia, Canada also announced a proposed "The Online News Act" to promote media and platform negotiations in 2022, which was ultimately approved on June 22, 2023.
In October of this year, the South African Competition Commission announced the launch of the Media and Digital Platform Market Survey (MDPMI) to assess the impact of large technology companies such as Google and Meta on local media industry advertising revenue.