EU imposes €797 million fine on Meta Platforms for abusive Facebook ad practices
- Meta Platforms said it will appeal the decision as the EU has offered no evidence of harm to competitors or consumers
The European Commission on Thursday fined Meta Platforms €797.72 million ($840.24 million) over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace, it said in a statement.
"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.
“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour,” the bloc's competition chief Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement.
In a statement, Meta said that it will appeal the decision, adding that the EU has offered no evidence of harm to competitors or consumers.
“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,” the firm said.
Facebook had launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded into several European countries a year later.
The commission said that because Facebook Marketplace was tied to Facebook, the former enjoyed a “substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.”
“All Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not,” it said.
The latest move by the EU comes two years after it had accused the tech giant of giving its classified ads service Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by bundling the two services together.
The European Union 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.
Among the 10 largest antitrust fines ever imposed by the 27-nation European Union, it is the latest in a string of hefty penalties slapped on Big Tech companies in recent years by the commission, the regulator for the bloc.
Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsIndustryMediaEU imposes €797 million fine on Meta Platforms for abusive Facebook ad practices
First Published:14 Nov 2024, 07:18 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High