In the days in which the name of Elon Musk, owner of Indeed, the European Commission fined Meta 797.72 million euros for violating EU antitrust rules by linking the online advertising service Facebook Marketplace to their personal social network, namely Facebook, and imposes unfair commercial conditions on other online advertising service providers.
In particular, the Commission found that Meta abused its dominant position, in breach of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), through the integration of the online advertising service Facebook Marketplace with the personal social network Facebook. This means that all users of
Facebook automatically has access to Facebook Marketplace and they are exposed to this service regularly, even if they don’t want it. The Commission found that this relationship gives Facebook Marketplace a significant distribution advantage that its competitors cannot match. In addition, the Commission also violated antitrust rules by unilaterally imposing unfair trading conditions on other online advertising service providers advertising on Meta platforms, particularly on the social networks Facebook and Instagram. This allows Meta to use advertising data generated by other advertisers for the exclusive benefit of Facebook Marketplace.
The Commission ordered Meta to cease this conduct effectively and to refrain from repeating it or adopting practices with similar causes or effects in the future. In determining the amount of the fine, the Commission took into account Meta’s total turnover, to ensure that there would be a sufficient deterrent effect for a company with important resources such as Meta. “Today we approve a fine of 797.72 million to Meta for abusing its dominant positions in the markets for personal social network services and online advertising on social media. Meta integrated its online advertising service Facebook Marketplace with its personal social network Facebook and imposed unfair business terms on other online advertising service providers. He did so for the benefit of his own service
Facebook Marketplace, giving it advantages that other online advertising service providers could not match. This behavior is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour”, said the Executive Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.
Meta has announced that it will appeal against the EU Commission’s decision. The commission found “no evidence” to support the allegation that the product harms competitors. The allegation is “based on hypothesis and possible damage to competition” and is, “at best, a case that is still looking for a coherent theory of damage”, Meta explains in a statement. The truth, according to the US group, is that people use Facebook Marketplace “because they want to, not because they are forced to”.
