The committee objected to Meta’s combination of the Facebook Marketplace and personal social networks.
Budrul Cukrut | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The European Union issued Facebook’s parent company on Monday meta Along with a list of objections to Facebook Marketplace, an online advertising business.
The EU’s enforcement agency, the European Commission, said it had found Meta violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the online classifieds market.
The European Commission has challenged the combination of the Facebook marketplace service, which allows users to list products, with Facebook, Meta’s personal social network.
The company said it was concerned that the arrangement would give Facebook Marketplace a “substantial distribution advantage that its competitors cannot match.”
The European Commission’s vice president for competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said that Facebook’s partnership with Marketplace meant that users “have no choice but to go to Facebook Marketplace.”
“We are further concerned that Meta has imposed unfair commercial terms and allowed us to use data from competing online classified advertising services,” Vestager said in a statement.
“If confirmed, Meta’s practices would be illegal under our competition rules.”
Tim Lamb, Head of EMEA Competition at Meta, said: “The Commission’s allegations are baseless.”
“We will work with regulators to demonstrate that our product innovations are consumer and competitive,” he added.
The Commission launched an investigation into Meta in June 2021, investigating “Facebook’s possible anti-competitive conduct.”
A company’s statement of objection is a formal step in an EU competition investigation and does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
However, even after a company has defended itself, if the Commission finds sufficient evidence of a violation, the company could face potential changes in business practices or fines of up to 10% of annual global revenues. There is a nature.
For Meta, which had annual revenue of $117.92 billion in 2021, this could mean penalties worth $11.8 billion.
That marks the latest setback, especially for Meta, which is facing pressure from investors over its pivot to the “Metaverse.” fell.
Separately on Monday, the European Commission closed an investigation into the partnership between Meta and Google, which it said had previously stifled competition in advertising technology.
“After careful evaluation of all relevant evidence, including information received from Google, Meta and other companies active in the technology sector, the Commission concluded that the evidence did not support its initial concerns. has decided to close the investigation,” the commission said. Said.
