Court sides with Norwegian regulator’s $100K daily fine imposed on Meta

Meta lost a legal battle Wednesday to halt a Norwegian ban on its advertising practices that came with hefty daily fines, in a blow to the US social media giant’s business model.

Norwegian regulator Datatilsynet in July announced a temporary ban on Facebook and Instagram’s behavioural advertising a common marketing practice that tech giants like Meta use at the heart of their business models to sell targeted ads based on user data ranging from personal interests to places they’ve been.

Such practices without adequate consent violate user privacy and are illegal, Datatilsynet said, adding that the ban was set to last for three months or until Meta’s complies with the law.

During the ban, which began last month, Instagram and Facebook continue to operate normally in Norway but Meta faces a fine of up to 1 million Norwegian kroner (nearly $100,000) each day. In efforts to challenge this, Meta applied for a temporary injunction arguing that Datatilsynet did not have legal grounds for its urgent decision among factors, including inadequate notice.

But on Wednesday, Oslo District Court sided with Datatilsynet. The ruling confirms the ban’s daily fine became applicable on Aug 14 and continues to accrue.

We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling and the result. This is a big victory for people’s data protection rights, Datatilsynet director general Line Coll said in a Wednesday statement.

Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson said that the company was disappointed by the decision and will now consider our next steps. The spokesperson added that the company already announced plans to shift all users in European Union and European Economic Area to consent law under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.

A behavioural advertising ban beyond Norway, which is part of the European Economic Area, is possible. Datatilsynet says it may take the matter to the European Data Protection Board, which could extend the ban and led to wider implications across the continent.

Meta has been under fire over data privacy for some time. In May, for example, the EU slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion fine and ordered it to stop transferring users’ personal information across the Atlantic by October. And the tech giant’s new text-based app, Threads, has not rolled out in the EU due to privacy concerns.

Meta is also among the companies that the EU is targeting under new digital rules aimed at reining in the market power of tech giants. In addition to the Facebook owner, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and TikTok parent ByteDance were classified Wednesday as online gatekeepers that must face the highest level of scrutiny under the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.