200 French media groups sue Meta over 'unlawful' advertising: lawyers

Around 200 French media groups, including leading television channels and newspapers, are taking legal action against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, over its online advertising practices, their lawyers announced on Wednesday.

The social media giant is accused of "targeting advertisements based on the massive and unlawful collection of users’ personal data," according to a statement from their lawyers, French firm Darrois and US-based Scott+Scott.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the company on Wednesday before the Paris commercial court, seeking "compensation for the massive economic harm ... caused by the unfair business practices of the American giant."

According to them, Meta "massively collected users' personal data without informing them or seeking their consent," in violation of European data protection rules.

"By exploiting this data to offer ultra-targeted advertising, Meta was able to capture the majority of advertising investments to the detriment of the media," said the lawyers, describing this joint legal action as a "historic first."

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The list of plaintiffs includes public and private TV stations from TF1 to France Televisions, state radio broadcaster Radio France, newspapers Le Figaro and Liberation, as well as local magazine publishers.

Meta did not respond immediately when contacted by AFP.

The lawyers representing the media groups pointed out that Meta and Google dominate the online advertising market.

"Together, they account for 75 percent of the market and 90 percent of its growth," they stated, adding that advertising makes up 98 percent of Meta's global turnover.

"Without Meta’s unfair practices, French media outlets would have received a significantly larger share of digital advertising investment," the lawyers argued.

The European Union slapped Meta with a 200-million-euro ($227 million) fine on Wednesday for violating rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram.

The fine targeted Meta's "pay for privacy" system, which means users have to pay to avoid data collection or agree to share their data with Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free.

Source: AFP