Meta Platforms has been fined €797.72m (£663m) by the European Commission over alleged anti-competitive practices relating to Facebook Marketplace.
The EU regulator has ruled that Meta breached competition laws by linking its social network to Facebook Marketplace, giving it an unfair advantage over rival online classified services.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for competition policy, said Meta’s actions provided the company with “advantages that other online classifieds providers cannot match”, deeming them illegal under EU antitrust regulations. “Mita must now stop this behavior,” Vestager said.
Meta announced plans to appeal the decision. The company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, claimed the ruling failed to prove “competitive harm” to its rivals or consumers and “ignores the realities of the booming European market for online classified listing services.” Meta argued that many Facebook users are opting out of Marketplace, highlighting that it remains an optional feature.
Facebook launched its Marketplace platform in 2016 and expanded it across Europe a year later. The European Commission began its investigation into Meta’s practices in 2021. Under EU antitrust rules, companies found in violation risk fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.
This ruling is part of an ongoing regulatory crackdown on Meta within the European Union. Last year, the company faced a record €1.2 billion fine for violating EU data privacy regulations. The Irish Data Protection Commission found that Meta failed to adequately protect European users’ data when it was transferred to the United States, where it was subject to surveillance by US authorities. Meta’s European operations are headquartered in Dublin.
In the United States, Meta is also under scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission sued the company over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, claiming that the goal was to eliminate competition. Meta has defended these acquisitions, asserting that they “benefited competition and consumers alike.”
As the European Union continues to tighten its grip on major technology companies, Meta delayed the release of its latest artificial intelligence model in Europe, attributing the delay to “unpredictable” regulatory conditions. The latest antitrust fine underscores the EU’s growing determination to regulate the market dominance of US tech giants.
Meanwhile, changes in the EU’s approach may be on the horizon, as Margrethe Vestager, who has championed huge fines against US technology companies, prepares to step down from her position as competition commissioner. She is expected to be succeeded by Teresa Ribera, Spain’s environment minister, who is expected to balance oversight of technology companies with support for European companies.
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