Meta is to spike European coffers with 797.72 million euros. The fine is in response to Meta’s violations of European antitrust laws.
The European Commission is fining Meta €797.72 million. That fine follows a case that has been dragging on since 2021 and has to do with the way Meta links different services from its dominant market position.
Specifically, it finds that Meta unfairly creates an automatic connection between the Facebook social network and the second-hand marketplace Facebook Marketplace. Anyone with a Facebook account is automatically exposed to the marketplace, whether they are interested or not. Services that want to compete with the Facebook Marketplace are thus at a significant disadvantage.
Moreover, the Commission finds that Meta imposes unfair conditions on other second-hand ad providers who want to place ads on Facebook and Instagram. Indeed, Meta could use the data derived from such ads to boost its own Facebook Marketplace. The company denies that this is effectively happening.
Illegal
Both practices are illegal under European antitrust law, the EC measures. Meta is using the dominance of its social network to boost its second-hand sales website at the expense of alternatives. Those third-party alternatives not only don’t get sufficient access to Meta’s social networks, but their access can be abused to once again boost the Marketplace.
The European Commission requires Meta to stop the practices immediately and not to repeat them. The fine of 797.72 euros was arrived at taking into account both the duration and severity of the infringement.
Profession
Meta is already letting it know that it will appeal. Mark Zuckerberg’s company has a habit of making its own interpretations of European rules and then fighting to the end to prove its case. In this case, Meta claims that the Marketplace was created at the demand of the market, and that the European Commission does not prove that competitors are harmed by the close relationship between Facebook and Marketplace. Meta will comply with the rules as soon as possible during the appeal and let it be known that the Facebook Marketplace will continue to exist.