The European Commission fined Meta €797 .72 million euros for abuses of market position in favor of Facebook Marketplace, reports "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
"The European Commission fined Meta for breaching EU antitrust rules after it tied its online classifieds service, Facebook Marketplace, to its main social network Facebook and imposed unfair trading terms on other online classifieds providers," ; said the EC.
Meta has announced that it will appeal the decision, but in the meantime it will comply and work actively and constructively to find a solution to the issues raised.
This measure by the European Commission follows a two-year investigation in which the tech giant was accused of giving Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by merging it with the main Facebook platform.
The procedure to investigate possible anti-competitive practices of Facebook was officially opened in June 2021, and in December 2022. The EU has raised concerns that Meta is tying the dominant social network to its classified advertising services.
Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016, and the service was expanded to several European countries a year later. According to the EU's findings, Meta illegally ties Facebook Marketplace to Facebook users. For its part, Meta argues that Facebook users have a choice whether to use Marketplace and that many do not.
The company also says that the Commission's claims about Marketplace's potential to hinder the development of major online marketplaces in the EU are not supported by evidence of harm to competitors.
EU companies can be fined up to 10% of their global turnover for antitrust violations.