Finance
Italy Court Allows Class Action Against Meta Over Facebook Data Scraping
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 14, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 14, 2026
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A Milan court has permitted a GDPR-based class action by CTCU against Meta over a 2018–2019 Facebook data scraping incident that impacted about 533 million global users, including some 35 million Italians, as disclosed in 2021.
Italy Court Permits Class Action vs Meta Over Facebook Data Breach Affecting Millions
Milan Court Accepts Class Action Against Meta Platforms
Background of the Data Breach
MILAN, April 14 (Reuters) - A Milan court on Tuesday accepted a class action brought by a consumer group against Meta Platforms over the theft of personal data suffered by Facebook Italy.
Details of the Incident
According to the court order, the data scraping incident, which took place between January 2018 and September 2019 and was disclosed by Meta in 2021, affected around 533 million Facebook users globally.
Consumer Group's Legal Action
Compensation Sought for Users
The CTCU consumer association is seeking compensation on behalf of social media users who lost, or feared losing, control over their personal data in breach of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Impact on Italian Facebook Users
A legal source estimated that around 35 million Facebook users in Italy could potentially be affected by the data scraping.
Meta's Response to the Court Ruling
"We respectfully disagree with the court's decision, which is a procedural ruling only and makes no finding that Meta violated any law," a Meta spokesperson said. "We are confident this meritless action will ultimately be dismissed," the spokesperson added.
(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)
Key Takeaways
- •The class action, filed by consumer group CTCU under Italian law, enables affected users to join free of charge and seeks compensation for immaterial harm (unauthorised exposure of personal data) under GDPR standards, with precedent compensation at €400 for IP disclosure already noted in EU case law (consumer.bz.it).
- •Meta strongly disputes the ruling, calling it purely procedural with no finding of wrongdoing, and intends to contest the claim further (apnews.com).
- •This follows broader scrutiny of Meta’s data handling: EU regulators have imposed significant fines—€265 million for GDPR violations over data scraping (darkreading.com)—and a related €7 million antitrust fine in Italy for data collection practices (complianceweek.com).
References
Frequently Asked Questions about Italy court allows class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping
1What is the class action lawsuit in Italy about?
An Italian consumer group brought a class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping affecting millions of users.
2How many Facebook users were affected by the data scraping incident?
About 533 million Facebook users globally, including an estimated 35 million in Italy, were affected.
3When did the Facebook data scraping incident occur?
The incident took place between January 2018 and September 2019 and was disclosed in 2021.
4What law is referenced in the lawsuit against Meta?
The lawsuit cites a breach of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
5What is Meta's response to the Italian court's decision?
Meta disagrees with the procedural ruling and believes the class action will ultimately be dismissed.
