Setback for Meta as court adviser backs EU regulators in data spat

By Foo Yun Chee and Charlotte Van Campenhout

BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An adviser to Europe's top court on Thursday sided with EU regulators demanding information regarding two antitrust investigations of Meta Platforms META.O, in a setback for the U.S.-based social media company.

The case underscores the increasing tendency by companies to challenge the EU antitrust enforcer over what they say are disproportionate regulatory demands.

Meta had taken its case to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, questioning EU demands related to its Facebook social network and online classified ads.

The court's Advocate General Athanasios Rantos said judges should dismiss Meta's appeal and uphold a lower tribunal's ruling that backed the European Commission, the EU's competition enforcer.

"The Commission has broad powers of investigation which enable it to request all necessary information in order to carry out its tasks," he said in a non-binding opinion.

"The documents referred to by the applicant did not contain sensitive data and the Commission's access was subject to strict limits and safeguards, with no disproportionate interference with privacy," Rantos said.

Judges, who tend to follow the majority of such recommendations, will rule in the coming months.

Meta had complained that EU demands included documents such as autopsy reports on family members, children's school reports, information about individuals and their families, and even security details.

While Meta's judicial challenge against the EU regulatory information demands was going on, regulators ended their investigation in 2024 by levying a 797.7 million euro ($941 million) fine.

The violations related to Meta tying its Facebook Marketplace online classified ads service to its personal social network Facebook and imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.

The cases are C-496/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Marketplace) and C-497/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Data).

($1 = 0.8477 euros)