EU fines Meta 797 million euros: what’s wrong with Facebook advertising
14 November 2024 22:25
On November 14, the European Commission fined Meta Platforms €797.72 million for abusing the Facebook Marketplace. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Politico.
It is noted that Meta was fined for violating EU antitrust rules by linking its online ad service Facebook Marketplace to Facebook’s personal social network and imposing unfair terms of trade on other online ad service providers.
Meta intends to appeal the decision.
The EC’s decision came two years after the US tech giant was accused of giving an unfair advantage to its Facebook Marketplace private classifieds service by merging the two services.
The EU opened a formal investigation into Facebook’s alleged anti-competitive behavior in June 2021, and in December 2022 expressed concern that Meta was linking its Facebook social network with its online classified ad services.
Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded it to several European countries a year later.
The EU ruling claims that Meta is imposing Facebook Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal “tethering” manner, but Meta said that this argument ignores the fact that Facebook users can choose whether to interact with Marketplace, and many do not.
According to the Commission, the Marketplace has the potential to hinder the growth of large existing online marketplaces in the EU. However, according to Meta, the EC could not find any evidence of harm to competitors.
