Meta Platforms lost its battle on Tuesday against a German data restriction order that hits the heart of its business model as Europe’s highest court backed Germany’s antitrust watchdog’s power to analyze privacy violations.
The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling potentially gives antitrust authorities more leeway in Big Tech investigations.
The case centered on Meta’s challenge after the German cartel office in 2019 ordered the social media giant to stop collecting user data without their consent, calling the practice an abuse of market power.
The purpose at issue was whether the German antitrust agency exceeded its mandate by utilizing its antitrust powers to handle data protection issues that fall inside the remit of national data protection authorities.
Meta collects user data for behavioral promoting, a business model shared by Big Tech.
Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, challenged this finding, prompting a German court to hunt advice from the CJEU.
In response to the ruling, a Meta spokesman said: “We’re evaluating the court’s decision and may have more to say in due course.”
![The case centered on Meta's impeachment after the German cartel office in 2019 ordered the social media giant to stop collecting user data without their consent](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013580031.jpg?w=1024)
The CJEU judges stated in relation to antitrust proceedings that “it could be obligatory for the competition authority of a given Member State to also examine whether the conduct of this entrepreneur complies with principles aside from those regarding competition law.
Nevertheless, the CJEU stated that antitrust regulators must “keep in mind any decision or investigation by a reliable supervisory authority pursuant to this regulation”.
The German cartel office welcomed this ruling.
![The ruling by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union potentially gives antitrust authorities more leeway in Big Tech investigations.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013581712.jpg?w=1024)
“Data is a critical factor in constructing market power. The usage of very personal consumer data by large Web firms may also be abusive under antitrust law, said its head, Andreas Mundt.
His counterpart at the French competition agency, Benoit Coeure, in a tweet called the ruling a landmark decision on data protection as a parameter of competition.
Thomas Graf, a partner at law firm Cleary Gottlieb, was more cautious about whether antitrust authorities could be willing to enter the details of privacy law.
![Meta collects user data for behavioral advertising, a business model shared by Big Tech.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013564621.jpg?w=1024)
“You continue to need to elucidate why it’s relevant to antitrust law and reveal restrictive and abuse effects, and they’ll have to coordinate with GDPR authorities,” he said.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a privacy and security law that places obligations on organizations anywhere that concentrate on or collect data about individuals in the EU.
Will antimonopoly offices change into GDPR regulators? I do not think so, Graf said.
Privacy advocate Max Schrems, who filed a criticism against Meta, said the verdict would have a positive impact on his ongoing litigation with the company.