Schleswig Court of Appeal Confirms Illegality of Data Practices
Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Schleswig (Germany), August 18th, 2025 - The Schleswig Higher Regional Court dismissed SOMI's application for a preliminary injunction against Meta's use of public user content from Facebook and Instagram to train its AI model, Llama.
Aug Mon 18 2025
The court rejected the injunction on procedural grounds, ruling that SOMI filed too late after Meta's April 14th announcement. However, the court explicitly confirmed SOMI's findings that Meta's data practices violate EU law.
The court acknowledged that AI training likely involves sensitive data, information about non-registered individuals, and content from minors - all violations of GDPR protections for special categories of data. Such processing cannot be justified under "legitimate interest" and requires explicit consent, which Meta failed to obtain.
SOMI argued that Meta's conduct also breaches the Digital Markets Act by combining data from Facebook and Instagram without giving users clear choice, failing to provide transparency in its terms and conditions, and extending data use to AI systems beyond its social media platforms.
This ruling demonstrates the power of cease-and-desist instruments in protecting EU citizens from Big Tech's unlawful data exploitation. It also sends a clear procedural message: this tool must be deployed immediately when infringing conduct is announced to avoid forfeiting the ability to act swiftly for affected consumers.
SOMI will now deploy this instrument more proactively and frequently in its campaigns when EU law violations are evident, including in ongoing campaigns against other platforms such as X.
Based on this verdict, ongoing claims against Meta elsewhere in the EU, and evidence gathered by regulators and independent researchers, SOMI will proceed with litigation on the merits in Germany to secure a definitive ruling on the illegality of Meta's conduct within the EU.
SOMI remains committed to safeguarding the privacy and fundamental rights of EU citizens and holding Big Tech companies to the highest legal and ethical standards.
Legal Representation
SOMI is represented by Spirit Legal (Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main, Dresden), which specializes in strategic litigation on digital issues and collective legal actions.