--- title: "Meta faces headwinds again in the European data case as the EU Court's Advocate General supports regulation" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/277030351.md" description: "The EU Court's Chief Legal Advisor supports the EU antitrust regulator, rejecting Meta's defense against data requests. This means that the battle between Meta and the EU antitrust authority has entered the final judgment stage. Meta had sued the European Commission over the data request, claiming it was overly intrusive. Chief Legal Advisor Athanasios Rantos recommended dismissing Meta's appeal and upholding the ruling of the General Court, stating that the General Court did not make an error in reviewing the information request" datetime: "2026-02-26T11:27:03.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/277030351.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/277030351.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/277030351.md) --- > Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/277030351.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/277030351.md) # Meta faces headwinds again in the European data case as the EU Court's Advocate General supports regulation According to the Zhitong Finance APP, a chief legal advisor of the European Court of Justice chose on Thursday local time to support the EU antitrust regulatory agency's unfavorable opinion/suggestion against Meta's challenge to the EU antitrust regulatory agency's information request, rejecting Meta's defense. This also means that the fierce struggle between Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (META.US) and the EU antitrust regulatory agency has entered the final judgment stage; this American tech giant stated that the latter made unusual information and data requests in the two investigations launched against the company. From the timeline of the lawsuit, Meta first sued the European Commission over the data request; then the General Court of the EU rejected Meta's appeal; Meta then appealed the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) located in Luxembourg; now the chief legal advisor of this European Supreme Court has issued an opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court also reject Meta's appeal. In other words, "Meta has submitted the case to the EU Court located in Luxembourg" refers to Meta's action; while "the court advisor's opinion" refers to the current tendency of the court system to reject this appeal. Athanasios Rantos suggested that the EU Court "reject both appeals and uphold the General Court's ruling," and believed that the General Court "did not make a legal error" when reviewing the necessity of the information requests and the safeguards. In recent years, Meta has been arguing that the EU Commission's information and data requests are "excessive, unusual, and overly intrusive," as they allegedly involve a large amount of highly sensitive personal materials. It is understood that Meta has submitted the case to the EU Court located in Luxembourg, questioning the EU's hard requirements regarding its Facebook social network and online classified advertising business. The EU Court stated in a statement: "In its opinion, as the Attorney General of the European Supreme Court, Athanasios Rantos suggested that the EU Court reject both appeals and uphold the ruling of the EU General Court." The statement also added that Rantos, in his non-binding opinion, stated that the General Court "did not make a legal error when assessing the necessity of the requested information or reviewing the safeguards for providing this information." EU judges typically follow most legal opinions in such recommendations, and they will make further rulings in the coming months. These 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) ### Related Stocks - [Direxion Daily META Bull 2X ETF (METU.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METU.US.md) - [Roundhill META WeeklyPay ETF (METW.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METW.US.md) - [GraniteShares 2x Long META Daily ETF (FBL.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FBL.US.md) - [Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/META.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Meta Opens Manhattan Store As Capital Shifts From Metaverse To AI](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279834632.md) - [Meta actually is keeping its VR metaverse running, for now](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279825430.md) - [Meta is having trouble with rogue AI agents](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279688226.md) - [Meta Platforms Plans Mass Layoff To Help Offset A.I. Spending](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279265642.md) - [Is Meta Platforms stock going to $700 by year-end? The math says it's possible.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279494835.md)