Meta loses appeals against interim measures imposed by French regulators

By Makini Brice

PARIS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms has lost its appeals against interim measures imposed by French regulators over media organisations' publishing rights in the Paris Court of Appeals, the court said on Thursday.

Tech companies and publishers have been involved in a growing number of cases under litigation over content published on social media or used for AI training.

Under European Union law, print media are allowed to seek payment for the digital use of their content and France has sought to strictly enforce the EU rules.

A previous agreement between Meta and press associations determining the amount due expired in 2024, and the two sides have since failed to agree. French media have received no payment since 2025.

The associations, in turn, reached out to France's competition authority, which issued two interim measures against Meta in July.

They required the company to resume talks with media groups, provide them with information about the revenue of its social media platforms and the use of protected content and not to degrade the manner of displaying content from the press.

Meta appealed those decisions in August, which the court rejected on Thursday.

"The Court concluded that Meta's practices, specifically regarding the methods used to determine the amounts payable as 'neighboring rights' to press publishers, may constitute an abuse of a dominant position, which is prohibited under both European and French competition law," the court said in a statement.

A Meta spokesperson said the tech company was disappointed by the ruling. "We are assessing next steps but will continue to comply with the interim measures and negotiate in good faith, and hope the publishers will do the same," the spokesperson said.

DVP, which is one of the media associations and which includes French newspapers Le Monde and Les Echos, issued a statement welcoming the decision.

"DVP will continue to doggedly defend its members’ interests with the Competition Authority and through negotiations with Meta," DVP Chairman of the Board of Jean-Marie Cavada, said.

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten Donovan and Tomasz Janowski)