More than 80 Spanish media Information ask Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, approximately 550 million euros For the damage caused to them by its advertising model, in a long -awaited trial that began this morning in Madrid.

The Media Association (AMI), the main union of the sector in Spain, filed an appeal in December 2023 against Meta in Ireland, where the giant American technology company has its European headquarters. It is asking for 551 million euros for unfair competition in the sale of digital advertising.

Among the media groups represented by Ami is Prisa, owner of the El Pais newspaper and the AS sports newspaper, but also Godo (La Vanguardia, Mundo Deportivo …), the Unidad Editorial (El Mundo, Marca) and Vocento, who is issued by ABC.

In addition to Ami, Spanish radio and television stations also filed an appeal against META for the same reasons, seeking compensation of 160m euros.

The indictment

The hearing began at 10:00 (local time, 11:00 in Greece) at a Spanish capital’s commercial court and is going to run until tomorrow, Thursday.

‘What is at stake here is The survival of the media Threatened by the predatory behavior of a platform such as Meta, which acts without respecting our legislative framework, “Irene Lanthako, Director General of the Union, told reporters before the court’s hearing.

‘What Meta did is to make a mass profile of all users’ behavior of the internet and, based on this mass profile, without having informed them about it, nor has the consensus of the citizens, the group, the Group sold advertising in areas, thus obtaining a huge profit From an illegal, of a regulatory point of view, “he insisted.

Ami accuses META that in space from May 2018 to July 2023 violated the European Data Protection Regulation Using Internet users’ data without their consent to create personalized advertising profiles.

“This is an unfounded request that (…) is not based on any evidence of the alleged damage, while at the same time deliberately ignoring the evolution of the advertising industry in recent years,” Meta reacted to a message transmitted to the French agency.

“Meta respects all applicable laws and provided clear choices, transparent information and a wide range of tools to users to control their experience in our services,” the group also argued.

Witnesses are going to file today and expert reports as well as the conclusions of the parties will be presented tomorrow, Thursday.