Deutsche Telekom slams Meta following direct peering agreement

Deutsche Telekom (DT) has slammed Meta after the Facebook parent company ended its direct peering relationship with the German carrier. This follows a recent court decision in Germany that ruled in favor of DT. According to DT, all data traffic from Meta to the DT network used to run via direct connections for a fee, however, the carrier claims that Meta stopped making payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Meta is once again abusing its overwhelming bargaining power to discredit legitimate concerns of the European telecommunications industry and consumers in order to avoid fair payment," said DT in a statement yesterday.

"This is not just about a difference of opinion between two companies, but about the question of whether the power of the strongest prevails on the Internet or whether there is a fair balance between all participants. We hope that this debate will not be carried out on the backs of the citizens. Even a company like Meta is not above the law."

DT also accused Meta of trying to avoid paying its taxes in Europe, disregarding European data protection, in which DT refers to WhatsApp, lying to the public about hate speech, trying to force its users into payment models in violation of consumer protection laws amongst others.