Editorial: La Vanguardia

• Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been judiciary condemned to pay 540 million euros to Spanish digital media for unfair competition.
• The company violated the law by using internet users' data without their consent to create advertising profiles.
• The judgement is insufficient as it does not consider an abuse of dominant position in the advertising market as proven.
• The European data protection regulation can have repercussions in more countries.
• The judiciary's estimation of an additional sanction for Meta was hindered by a lack of transparency in its activities and its taxation in Ireland.
• Meta continuously violated the Data Protection Regulation from its implementation in 2018 until 2023.
• The court's decision alleges that Meta threatened the sustainability of Spanish media.
• The Spanish president announces measures to combat misinformation and to protect privacy and minors' rights.
• Sánchez's speech against large tech companies coincides with the European Commission's proposal to relax data protection regulation.

Conclusion: The ruling against Meta is a significant victory in the fight for data privacy and traditional media sustainability. However, this issue reflects the overwhelming power and control that large tech companies hold over information and the economy at large.

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