Consumer groups from 8 EU countries have filed complaints against Meta. The company was accused of illegally processing user data and using the "pay or consent" system as a "front" for privacy breaches, AFP reports.
Meta has received rich financial returns from selling Facebook and Instagram user data to advertisers, but its business model has pitted the US-based firm against EU regulators over privacy protections.
In November, Meta launched a "pay or consent" system that allows users to opt out of having their data used to target ads for a monthly fee - a model that is already facing two challenges from privacy advocates and consumers.
Announcing the latest action, the European Consumer Organisation (ECO) called the system "a smokescreen to hide the real problem of the massive, illegal processing of consumer data that continues regardless of consumer choice".
8 consumer groups in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Spain have filed complaints with local data protection authorities, the Brussels-based organisation said in a statement.
The groups say Meta is still violating the EU's huge General Data Protection Regulation, which is at the heart of the EU's lawsuits against the online giant.
"It's time for data protection authorities to stop Meta's unfair processing of data and violation of people's fundamental rights," said Ursula Pahl, deputy director-general of the ECO.
A report by the ECO said Meta was violating the principles of EU data law, which require transparency as well as limiting how much user data it processes and what it is used for.
"Meta appears to be of the opinion that in order for the company to make money from advertising, it is justified to collect all possible data on users' activities, their location, personal characteristics, behaviour, attitudes and emotions," the report said. /BGNES
