The move comes after Meta said last month it would push ahead with plans to use personal data from European users of its Instagram and Facebook platforms for AI technology training from May 27, despite criticism over its legality.
Meta has been hit with multiple privacy complaints in Europe, but cited a "legitimate interest" to process personal data for AI training.
The privacy group, the European Center for Digital Rights -- also known as Noyb ("None of Your Business") -- threatened to file an injunction or class-action lawsuit against Meta if it does not halt plans.
"Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's (personal) data is necessary for AI training is laughable," Noyb founder Max Schrems said in a statement.
"Other AI providers do not use social network data -- and generate even better models than Meta," he added.
When Meta AI first launched in the European Union in late March, the tech giant was at pains to point out that the chatbot was not trained on data from European users.
Its rollout on the continent was delayed by more than a year as a result of overlapping European regulations on emerging technologies, including user data, AI and digital markets.
Following the complaints, Meta temporarily put its AI plans on hold in June 2024, before recently announcing it would go ahead with them.
"It is... totally absurd to argue that Meta needs the personal data of everyone that uses Facebook or Instagram in the past 20 years to train AI," Schrems said, adding the plans were "neither legal nor necessary".
"Meta simply says that (its) interest in making money is more important than the rights of its users," he said, adding that users could simply be asked for their consent.
With about 400 million estimated Meta users in Europe, the approval of 10 percent of them would "already clearly be sufficient" for AI language training and the like, Schrems said.
Launched in 2018, Noyb has taken several court proceedings against technology giants, often prompting action from regulatory authorities.
EU seeks to better protect children from online dangers
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) May 13, 2025 -
Pushing to better protect children online, the EU on Tuesday invited the public including parents and minors to help prepare recommendations for digital platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
The European Union has increasingly expressed concerns about online dangers for children, with the latest alarm raised by Belgium and France over the trend of #SkinnyTok videos promoting extreme thinness.
The commission has prepared a list of draft measures that platforms could take to protect minors as part of a public consultation that will run until June 10.
It will then publish the final list of recommendations in the summer.
Suggestions include verifying a user's age, setting children's accounts to private by default, and modifying how content is recommended to reduce the risk of children being exposed to harmful material.
The commission also suggested making it easier for children to block and mute users, as well as making sure users can be added only with a minor's explicit agreement, "which may contribute to reducing the risk of cyberbullying".
"The wide range of measures will aid the different online platforms in protecting minors' safety, security, privacy and well-being," the EU's digital chief, Henna Virkkunen, said in a statement.
The guidelines are part of the EU's landmark Digital Services Act (DSA), which covers all digital platforms.
The DSA requires companies to police content online, or face hefty fines.
The EU has already opened investigations under the DSA into Meta's Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok, over fears they are not doing enough to combat an addictive nature of their platforms for children.
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