Meta (META.US) faces headwinds again in European data case, as the European Union Court Chief Prosecutor stands by regulation.

A senior legal adviser to the European Court of Justice on Thursday local time chose to support the EU antitrust regulator in its challenge against Meta's challenge to the EU antitrust regulator's request for information, which also means that the fierce battle between Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (META.US) and the EU antitrust regulator is entering the final judgment stage; the US tech giant stated that the latter had made exceptional requests for information and data in two investigations against the company. In terms of the timeline of the litigation, Meta first sued the European Commission for its data request; then the General Court of the EU rejected Meta's appeal; Meta then appealed the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg; and now the senior legal adviser of the European Court of Justice has issued an opinion, recommending that the highest court also reject Meta's appeal. That is, when it is said that "Meta has submitted the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg," it refers to Meta's action; while "the opinion of the court adviser" refers to the current tendency of the judicial system to reject this appeal, with Athanasios Rantos suggesting that the EU Court of Justice "reject both appeals and uphold the General Court's judgment," and he believes that the General Court did not make a legal mistake in reviewing the necessity of the information request and safeguards. Meta has been arguing against the EU Commission's requests for information and data as being "excessive, exceptional, and overly invasive," as they are said to involve a large amount of highly sensitive personal materials. It is understood that Meta has submitted the case to the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg, questioning the EU's rigid requirements for its Facebook social network and online classified advertising business. In a statement, the EU Court of Justice stated: "In his opinion, Athanasios Rantos, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, recommends that the EU Court of Justice reject both appeals and uphold the judgment of the EU General Court." The statement also added that Rantos, in his non-binding opinion, stated that the General Court "did not make a legal mistake in assessing the necessity of the requested information or in reviewing the safeguards for providing this information." EU judges usually follow the majority of legal opinions in such recommendations, and they will make further rulings in the coming months. These cases are respectively C-496/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Marketplace) and C-497/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Data).