EU fines Meta nearly €800m for breaking antitrust rules

Brussels — The European Commission on Thursday has fined Meta Platforms €797.72m over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace.

The European Commission said in a statement on Thursday Meta was fined for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook. In addition, Meta had imposed unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.

Meta said it would appeal against the decision, but would also work to find a solution that addressed the points raised.

The move by the commission comes two years after it accused the US tech giant of giving its classified ads service Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by bundling the two services together.

The EU opened formal proceedings into possible anticompetitive conduct of Facebook in June 2021, and in December 2022, raised concerns that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services.

Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded into several European countries a year later.

The EU decision argues that Meta imposes Facebook Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal “tie”, but Meta said that argument ignores the fact that Facebook users can choose whether to engage with Marketplace, and many do not.

Meta said the commission claimed that Marketplace had the potential to hinder the growth of large incumbent online marketplaces in the EU, but could not find any evidence of harm to competitors.

Companies risk fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover for EU antitrust violations.

Reuters