Key Points
- Meta faces a €797.72 million (approximately $840 million) fine for antitrust breaches linked to Facebook Marketplace.
- The EU claims Meta unfairly linked Marketplace to Facebook, violating EU antitrust rules.
- Meta plans to appeal but will work on a compliance solution in the interim.
- The antitrust probe began in 2021, with formal charges raised in late 2022.
The European Commission has fined Meta €797.72 million (approximately $840 million) for antitrust violations. The Commission accused the company of unfairly linking its Facebook Marketplace to its main social network, Facebook. According to the Commission’s statement, Meta breached EU antitrust regulations by tying Facebook Marketplace, its online classifieds service, to its dominant social platform and imposing unfair terms on other online classified ad providers.
Meta plans to appeal the decision but states that it will comply and work to develop a solution that addresses the EU’s concerns. The EU’s antitrust action follows a two-year investigation, which began with the Commission raising initial concerns in June 2021 and concluded with formal charges in December 2022.
The Commission argued that Meta’s bundling of Facebook and Marketplace unfairly advantaged the latter, as it was essentially forced upon Facebook users, thus creating an illegal “tie” between the services.
Meta launched Facebook Marketplace in 2016 and expanded it into several European countries the following year. The company responded to the Commission’s findings by noting that Facebook users can freely choose whether to use Marketplace and that a substantial number of users do not engage with the service. Meta also contended that the Commission’s claim that Marketplace could potentially harm other established online marketplaces in the EU lacks concrete evidence of actual harm to competitors.
The European Union’s antitrust rules allow for fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue for violations, underscoring the significant implications of such findings. Meta remains steadfast in its stance, defending the right of users to choose and contesting the EU’s claims.
