Meta fined 798 million euros ($846m) for breaking EU antitrust rules
Al Jazeera
EU says Meta automatically ties its ad service – Facebook Marketplace – to Facebook, creating an unfair advantage.
The European Union has hit technology giant Meta with a fine just shy of 800 million euros for what it called “abusive practices” involving its Facebook Marketplace online classified ads business.
The EU’s European Commission issued the fine of 797.72 million euros ($846.13m) on Thursday. It accused Meta, which owns social media platform Facebook, of marketplace practices that give its own ad service an undue advantage over competitors.
The advantage stems from Meta automatically tying its ad service – Facebook Marketplace – to Facebook, creating a “substantial distribution advantage”, according to the commission.
“All Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not,” it said.
Additionally, it said Meta imposed unfair conditions on other classified ads service providers who advertised on Facebook and Instagram, enabling it to “use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace”.
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