BERLIN: Facebook’s parent company Meta on Tuesday suffered a setback in its challenge against German antitrust rules as a top adviser to the EU Court of Justice backed the regulator.
Meta’s challenge came after it was banned by the German authority from collecting data from its various services including Instagram and WhatsApp, and linking the information to the Facebook account of the user for advertising purposes.
The German Federal Competition Authority had prohibited Meta from the data processing practice after finding that it constituted an abuse of the company’s dominant position on the social network market.
Facebook had challenged the German decision at a court in Duesseldorf, which had sent the case on to the European court.
On Tuesday, the EU court’s advocate general said that while the antitrust authority does not have the jurisdiction to rule on an infringement of data protection rules, compliance with such rules could be taken as an “important indicator” in ascertaining if an entity has breached competition rules.
The court adviser also noted that a ban on processing sensitive personal data, such as an individual’s ethnic origin, health or sexual orientation, could apply in this case.
In order for an exemption to the prohibition concerning such data to apply, the user “must be fully aware that, by an explicit act, he is making personal data public.”
The advocate general added that the “conduct consisting in visiting websites and apps, entering data into those websites and apps and clicking on buttons integrated into them cannot, in principle, be regarded in the same way as conduct that manifestly makes public the user’s sensitive personal data.”
The advocate general’s opinion is non-binding but it often indicates which way the court will rule.
Facebook parent Meta in EU setback against German antitrust rules
https://arab.news/ykf72
Facebook parent Meta in EU setback against German antitrust rules
- German Federal Competition Authority had prohibited Meta from the data processing practice
- Facebook had challenged the German decision at a court in Duesseldorf
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
