Meta Loses EU Court Fight Against German Antitrust Authorities

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Tuesday ruled in favor of a German data curb order against Meta Platforms. According to the court, antitrust authorities that oversee firms like Meta are entitled to assess privacy breaches.

The Luxembourg-based court's ruling gives antitrust authorities significantly more power in probing Big Tech companies.

Like most tech giants, Meta harvests user data and uses them for behavioral advertising purposes. Back in 2019, the German cartel office ordered Meta to stop collecting user data without their consent.

According to the antitrust agency, the practice was an abuse of market power. However, the social media giant challenged the order, resulting in the case that it ultimately lost on Tuesday.

An Overview of the Court Battle

The case was centered on whether the German antitrust watchdog overstepped its authority when it used its antitrust power to address data privacy concerns.

Meta argued that this was the remit of national data protection authorities challenging the antitrust body's finding. This prompted a German court to reach out to the CJEU for advice.

Itmay be necessary for the competition authority of the member state concerned also to examine whether that undertaking's conduct complies with rules other than those relating to competition law.CJEU judges

However, the court also added that antitrust regulators need to take into consideration any decision or investigation by the competent supervisory authority pursuant to that regulation".

The CJEU's ruling was, of course, welcomed by the German Cartel office. Its head, Andreas Mundt, emphasized that data is a decisive factor in establishing market power.

According to him, the use of personal consumer data by large companies can be abusive under the antitrust law.

Benoit Coeure, Mundt's counterpart at a French competition agency, hailed the CJEU's ruling in a tweet, calling it a landmark decision on data protection as a parameter of competition.

However, a Meta spokesman responded to the ruling that the company was still evaluating the court's decision and will have more to say in due course".

Implications of the Ruling

The court ruling certainly grants antitrust organizations more leeway in investigating data privacy breaches by Big Tech companies. Privacy activist Max Schrems, who has filed lawsuits against Meta, said that the CJEU's judgment would influence his pending litigation positively.

However, Thomas Graf, a partner of the law firm Cleary Gottlieb expressed caution over whether antitrust authorities would want to delve into privacy laws.

You still need to explain why it is relevant for antitrust law and demonstrate restrictive effects and abuse.Thomas Graf

He also added that antitrust bodies would be required to coordinate with the GDPR authorities.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) happens to be a privacy and security law in the EU. The GRPR imposes obligations on organizations from anywhere around the world as long as they target people in the EU or collect EU user data. According to Graf, antitrust authorities are unlikely to become GDPR regulators.

It remains to be seen what the Meta spokesperson meant by Will have more to say" and what changes the company would make to its data collection practices.

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