Meta Platforms loses court case in the EU over data information request

Meta Platforms’ legal challenge against EU antitrust regulators has been unsuccessful as Europe’s court upheld the European Commission’s request for information regarding its investigation into Facebook’s data and online marketplace. Meta complained that the EU antitrust regulator’s search requests were like a “fishing super trawler” as it investigated the company’s practices and had already handed over a million documents to the European Commission. Meta criticized the necessity and proportionality of the data requests.

The EU General Court dismissed the challenge. It ruled that Meta failed to prove that the request went beyond what was necessary, or that EU measures taken didn’t sufficiently protect sensitive data. It further stated that the European Union’s antitrust watchdog’s requests for information related to its investigation into Facebook’s data and online marketplace are legal. Meta could not prove that “establishing a virtual data room failed to ensure that sensitive personal data was sufficiently protected”. ‘Virtual data room’ is a name for an online repository of documents and data that is used for due diligence process, or compliance requests.

The concerned cases are T-451/20 Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission and T-452/20 Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission.
Meta Platforms now has the option to appeal to the EU’s highest court – the Court of Justice.