European Commission Slaps Meta with $841M Fine Over Alleged Anticompetitive Practices

The European Commission (EC) has imposed a nearly €798 million (US $841 million) fine on Meta, the parent company of Facebook, after concluding a long-running investigation into alleged “abusive practices” linked to Facebook Marketplace. Meta has announced plans to appeal the decision.

According to the EC, Meta exploited its dominant positions in both the social media market and the online classified ads market across the 27-member European Union. The company tied Facebook Marketplace to the core Facebook platform, a move that compelled users to access Marketplace whether they wanted to or not. The EC stated in a press release on Wednesday that this arrangement “gives Facebook Marketplace a substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.”

In addition, the EC accused Meta of imposing “unfair trading conditions” on other online classified ad platforms that advertise on Facebook.

“The commission has ordered Meta to bring the conduct effectively to an end, and to refrain from repeating the infringement or from adopting practices with an equivalent object or effect in the future,” the regulator declared.

This is not the first time Meta has faced antitrust scrutiny. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed antitrust lawsuits against the company over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, with a trial set to begin soon in federal court, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Meta is not alone in facing the EC’s regulatory actions. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, recently had a €2.42 billion ($2.7 billion) fine upheld by a European court over antitrust violations. Meanwhile, Apple has also been subject to similar investigations and penalties.

Both Alphabet and Apple continue to face anticompetitive inquiries from U.S. regulators as well.

While dominance in a market is not inherently illegal under EU antitrust rules, the EC emphasized that dominant companies bear “a special responsibility not to abuse their powerful market position by restricting competition, either in the market where they are dominant or in separate markets.”

In response to the ruling, Meta criticized the decision in a blog post published on Thursday, arguing that the EC’s findings lack substantive evidence. “This decision ignores the realities of the thriving European market for online classified listing services and shields large incumbent companies from a new entrant, Facebook Marketplace, that meets consumer demand in innovative and convenient new ways,” the company said.

Meta also pointed out that the EC “found no evidence of competitive harm to rivals or consumers.”

Meanwhile, in a related investigation by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Meta avoided similar penalties. In August, the CMA accepted Meta’s commitment to allow users to exclude certain advertising data from being used in Facebook Marketplace. 

By fLEXI tEAM