EU fines Meta €797 million over antitrust breaches

The EU Commission fined tech giant Meta for practices favoring Facebook Marketplace that it said violated EU competition law.

The EU Commission on Thursday fined US tech giant Meta €797.7 million ($840.2 million) for breaches of EU competition law.

The body said that Meta had engaged in practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace.

Besides the Facebook social media platform, Meta also owns Instagram and the WhatsApp messaging service.

What did the EU say about its decision to fine Meta?

"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 European Commission said.

It said that it took into account the "duration and gravity of the infringement" and Meta and Facebook Marketplace's turnover in deciding the sum of the penalty.

The Commission said that Facebook Marketplace enjoyed a "substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match" due to it being tied to the social media platform.

"All Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not," it added. 

The Commission said that Meta imposed unfair conditions on competitors who chose to advertise on Facebook and Instagram, allowing it to "use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace."

The penalty comes two years after the Commission accused Meta of giving its classified ads service Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by tying it to the Facebook social network.

The EU has launched several investigations into "non-compliance" with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Last year, the EU fined Meta €1.2 billion over the transfer of EU user data to the United States.

Meta to appeal decision

In response, Meta said the EU offered no evidence of harm to competitors or consumers and vowed to appeal the decision.

"Facebook users can choose whether or not to engage with Marketplace, and many don't. The reality is that people use Facebook Marketplace because they want to, not because they have to," Meta argued.

"It is disappointing that the Commission has chosen to take regulatory action against a free and innovative service built to meet consumer demand," the company said.

However, Meta said that it would comply with the decision in the meantime and would work quickly and constructively to launch a solution that addresses the points raised.

sdi/ab (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)