A Spanish court opened a trial on Wednesday over a 550-million-euro lawsuit brought by more than 80 Spanish media organisations against Facebook owner Meta for allegedly breaching European Union data protection rules.

EU rules oblige companies to obtain users’ consent to create personalised advertising from their data.

Spain’s main media association AMI says the US tech giant, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, created “unfair competition” by “systematically” breaking the law between May 2018 and July 2023.

The association alleges unfair competition in digital advertising sales and is seeking 551 million euros ($647 million) in compensation.

“This isn’t a case that affects only AMI’s outlets, it has implications for media worldwide,” AMI director general Irene Lanzaco told reporte

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