Meta Loses Antitrust Case in Highest EU Court Regarding 2019 German Privacy Breach Inspections

The European Union's top court decided on Tuesday that antitrust regulators supervising corporations such as Facebook owner Meta Platforms have the right to examine privacy violations, possibly giving them more freedom in Big Tech investigations.

The decision came after Meta filed a challenge after the German antitrust agency ordered the social media giant to stop collecting users' data without their knowledge in 2019, calling the practise an abuse of market power.

The case before the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) considered whether the German antitrust agency overstepped its jurisdiction by utilising antitrust powers to address data privacy problems, which are the purview of national data protection agencies.

The ruling was contested by Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, causing a German court to seek assistance from the CJEU.

A Meta spokeswoman responded to the judgement, saying, "We are evaluating the Court's decision and will have more to say in due course."

Concerning antitrust investigations, the CJEU justices said that "it may be necessary for the competition authority of the member state concerned to also examine whether that undertaking's conduct complies with rules other than those relating to competition law."

The CJEU, on the other hand, stated that antitrust regulators must "take into account any decision or investigation made by the competent supervisory authority pursuant to that regulation."

The German cartel office applauded the decision.

"Data is a critical factor in gaining market power." "The use of very personal consumer data by large internet companies can also be abusive under antitrust law," said its director, Andreas Mundt.

Thomas Graf, a partner at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb, was more sceptical that antitrust regulators would wish to go into the specifics of privacy legislation.

"You still need to explain why it is relevant for antitrust law, demonstrate restrictive effects and abuse, and they will need to coordinate with GDPR authorities," he added.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union (EU) is a privacy and security regulation that puts requirements on businesses everywhere that target or collect data about EU citizens.

"Will antitrust authorities become GDPR regulators?" "I don't believe so," Graf said.

"In a complex digitalised economy, more than ever, we need authorities to think outside the box and consider data protection," said BEUC Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl.

C-252/21 Meta Platforms and Others (User Conditions for a Social Network) is the case.