Only the US meta group (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) is obliged to obtain the consent of users for the placement of cookies. This is the result of a decision by the Administrative Court (VG) of Cologne (Ref.: 13 K 1419/23 of 17 July 2025). The decision is directed against a decision by the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Information Security (BfDI). He had prohibited the Federal Press Office from continuing to operate the fan page on Facebook in 2023 due to data protection and other legal violations. The criticism was primarily directed at the non-compliant design of the cookie banners used by Meta. In the opinion of the BfDI, Meta and the Federal Press Office had to work together to ensure that the consent for the cookies was designed in a legally compliant manner.

The Cologne Administrative Court now sees this differently: there is no sufficient cause and effect relationship between the operation of the fan page by the Federal Press Office and the remote access to users' end devices associated with the storage and reading of cookies. According to the court's press release, the cookies can be placed when a fan page is visited, but also when any other Facebook page is visited. The mere facilitation of data processing does not constitute the necessary joint determination of the means of data processing.

Not only the Federal Press Office can breathe a sigh of relief after this decision, but also all other authorities or municipalities that operate fan pages on Facebook: they can continue to do so for the time being. However, the legally compliant design of the cookie banners has not yet been finalised. The Cologne Administrative Court has allowed an appeal.