The European Commission announced on Thursday that it had imposed a fine of 798 million euros on Meta for violating competition rules by linking its online advertising service, Facebook Marketplace, to its social network Facebook.
Brussels believes that the American giant has thus imposed "unfair commercial conditions" on other online advertising providers.
Meta immediately responded by announcing that the group will appeal this decision, which "ignores the realities of the European market."
The fine announced on Thursday is the seventh largest ever imposed by the European Union for anti-competitive practices (excluding cartels), in a category dominated by Google, Apple and Intel.
The social media giant (which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram) "sought to give its +Facebook Marketplace+ service advantages that other online advertising providers cannot match," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager explained in a statement.
"This practice is illegal. Meta must now put an end to this behavior," she added.
The European Commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, opened a formal investigation into the matter in June 2021. It made its complaint public in December 2022, giving Meta the opportunity to defend itself.
The Commission said Facebook had abused its dominant position. “All Facebook users have automatic access to Facebook Marketplace and are regularly exposed to it, whether they want it or not,” it said.
It estimated that “competitors to Facebook Marketplace risk being excluded” because they cannot match this “significant advantage.”
Brussels also said that Meta had “unilaterally” imposed “unfair commercial terms” on other providers who advertise on Meta’s platforms, “particularly on the very popular social networks Facebook and Instagram.”
The Commission believes that “this allows Meta to use data generated by other advertisers solely for the benefit of Facebook Marketplace.”
In contrast, Meta confirmed in a statement that "this decision ignores the realities of the thriving European market for online classifieds services and protects large incumbents from the arrival of a new competitor."
It added that "Facebook users can choose whether or not to use +Marketplace+, and many do not," and also stressed that "advertiser data is not used" to compete with them.
Meta announced its intention to "appeal" the decision, saying that the European Commission "found no evidence of harm to competitors."
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