The tech giant was hit with the fine for antitrust practices which benefitted Facebook Marketplace.
Meta has been hit with a fine from the European Commission after finding that it engaged in anticompetitive practices which benefitted Facebook Marketplace.
The tech giant was also found to have imposed “unfair trading conditions” on other online classified ads service providers who advertise on Meta’s platforms.
The parent company of popular social media sites Instagram and Facebook was ordered to pay €797.72m in fines as a result of the infringements.
The Commission launched an investigation into Facebook Marketplace in June 2021, probing whether it gives the company an unfair advantage over other classified services.
In 2022, the Commission informed Meta of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by tying its classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network.
In an announcement today (14 November), the Commussion found that Meta abused its dominant positions by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook.
“This means that all Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not,” the statement read. “The Commission found that competitors of Facebook Marketplace may be foreclosed as the tie gives Facebook Marketplace a substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.”
The Commission also found that by imposing unfair conditions on other online classified ads service providers who advertise on Meta’s platforms, Meta is able to “use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace.”
Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said today that Meta carried out the offending actions in order to “benefit its own service Facebook Marketplace, thereby giving it advantages that other online classified ads service providers could not match.
“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour.”
Meta has been ordered to stop the infringements and refrain from practices with a similar object or effect in the future.
The level of the fine imposed today was set based on the Commission’s 2006 guidelines for fines. “In setting the level of the fine, the Commission took into account the duration and gravity of the infringement, as well as the turnover of Facebook Marketplace to which the infringements relate and which therefore defines the basic amount of the fine. In addition, the Commission considered Meta’s total turnover, to ensure sufficient deterrence for a company with resources as significant as Meta’s.”
Meta said in a statement that it plans to appeal the decision. “In the meantime, we will comply, and will work quickly and constructively to launch a solution which addresses the points raised.
“We aim to make announcements shortly to reassure our European users that Facebook Marketplace is here to stay.”
The latest legal woe for the tech giant coincides with the news that a US-based judge today (14 November) ruled that Meta will face an Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit.
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Updated 3.20pm, 14 November 2024: This article was amended to include Meta’s comment.
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