November 14, (THEWILL) – The European Union (EU) has fined Meta Platforms €798 million ($840 million) over what it called abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace.
“The European Commission has fined Meta … for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers the EU’s executive arm said on Thursday in a statement.
The EU’s decision came after a thorough investigation into Meta’s business practices. The commission found that Meta abused its dominant position by integrating Facebook Marketplace with its main social media platform, disadvantaging competing online classified ad providers.
While EU argued that Meta imposes Facebook Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal “tie”, Meta said the argument ignores the fact that Facebook users can choose whether to engage with Marketplace, and many do not.
Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded into several European countries a year later. Companies risk fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover for EU anti-trust violations.
Meta (META) said it will appeal the decision, but in the meantime, it will comply and will work quickly and constructively to launch a solution that addresses the points raised.
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