Social media giants Meta and WhatsApp have been granted permission by the High Court to challenge the calculation of a €12m State levy to be imposed by media watchdog Coimisiún na Meán for their supervision costs. At the High Court, lawyers for Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd and WhatsApp Ireland Ltd successfully applied to Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty for permission to challenge what they claim is a transparency issue over the calculation behind the levy. In court papers, Meta says the company is the provider of Facebook and Instagram services to users in Ireland. Meta and WhatsApp are seeking an order from the High Court to quash a statutory instrument under the Broadcasting 2009 Act under which the multi-million euro levy was issued. The companies claim that they were submitted "invoices" instead of the "appropriate notices", under the commission's declarations, for the purposes of compliance with a 2025 Levy Order.

Source: Irish Examiner February 16, 2026 20:24 UTC