Fritz Jorgensen/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
identification platforms (Nasdaq: MetaBloomberg News reported that Facebook lost its battle in the European Court of Justice to overturn the German antitrust regulator’s decision that called for revamping the company’s business model.
The Supreme Court of the European Union ruled that the German Federal The Cartel Office did not violate its powers when, in 2019, the Competition Regulatory Agency imposed restrictions on Facebook regarding the processing of user data. The report added that this move came after an investigation that simultaneously looked into Facebook’s alleged breaches of EU data protection rules.
The case is seen as a test of how far EU antitrust authorities can go to ensure US companies do not mishandle data collected from users to maintain their market position, according to the report.
When antitrust agencies investigate possible abuses of market dominance by companies like Meta, they can also point to breaches of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU court has ruled. In such cases competition agencies must cooperate with other authorities, the report added Quoting the court.
Meta noted that he is “evaluating” the EU court’s ruling “and will have more to say at the appropriate time,” according to the report.
The company was facing scrutiny from the European Union in several areas. In May, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined Meta Ireland $1.3 billion for privacy breaches. Also in the month, the European Union’s appeals court ruled in favor of a request from the bloc’s antitrust regulator for more information about Facebook’s market.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in 2018 and provided powers to fining data watchdogs, and also made these agencies, their main supervisors.