2024-11-14 14:16:00
Facebook parent company fined
EU Commission imposes million-dollar fine on Meta
According to the EU Commission, the Facebook group Meta has broken competition law and must pay a fine.
Give your own Facebook Marketplace advantages: Meta is said to have imposed unfair trading conditions on other providers of online classified advertising services.
Photo: Jens Büttner (Keystone)
The EU Commission imposed a fine of 797.72 million euros on Facebook parent company Meta. “Meta has linked its online classifieds service Facebook Marketplace with its personal social network Facebook and imposed unfair trading conditions on other providers of online classifieds services,” criticized the responsible commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a statement.
Meta wanted to give its own service, Facebook Marketplace, advantages that other providers of online classified advertising services could not compensate for. The Brussels authority had already initiated formal proceedings in June 2021 due to possible anti-competitive behavior by Facebook.
Competition disadvantaged
The EU Commission criticizes the fact that by linking the online classifieds service Facebook Marketplace with the social network Facebook, all Facebook users automatically have access to the Marketplace and this is also displayed regularly – whether they want it or not. In this way, Facebook Marketplace competitors would be excluded from the market.
According to the Commission, the amount of the fine took into account how long and how seriously Meta had violated EU law. In addition, sales from Facebook Marketplace were included in the calculation. “The Commission also took into account Meta’s total turnover in order to achieve sufficient deterrence against a company with such large resources as Meta.”
Not the first heavy punishment
EU competition watchdogs have been scrutinizing American technology platforms for years. In March, the EU Commission had already imposed a competition fine of 1.8 billion euros on the tech giant Apple.
The US company was accused of abusing its dominant market position to distribute music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users via its app store. Fines amounting to billions of euros have also been imposed on Google.
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What were the reasons behind the EU Commission’s fine of €797.72 million on Meta for its Facebook Marketplace service?
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been fined €797.72 million by the EU Commission for imposing unfair trading conditions on its Facebook Marketplace service. The Commission’s Commissioner Margrethe Vestager criticized Meta for linking its Marketplace service to its social network, effectively granting it an advantage over other providers of online classified advertising. This decision follows formal proceedings initiated in June 2021 regarding potential anti-competitive behavior by Facebook.
The Commission pointed out that when users log into Facebook, they automatically have access to Marketplace, which is prominently displayed regardless of whether they wish to use it. This practice puts competitors of Facebook Marketplace at a significant disadvantage in the market. The substantial fine was determined by considering the length and severity of the violations, as well as Meta’s overall turnover, to ensure it acts as a deterrent against similar future misconduct.
This penalty adds to a series of previous fines imposed on Meta due to various regulatory breaches.
