The European Commission accuses Meta of imposing unfair conditions for the sale of advertising on Facebook. The company was fined 797.72 million euros.
The European Commission's investigation found that Meta uses data related to other advertisers' content "solely for the benefit of the Facebook Marketplace." It is alleged that Meta unilaterally imposes unfair terms of trade on other ad providers that advertise on its platforms.
The investigation was initiated internally by the Commission because the company was recognized as "dominant" in the personal social media market, as well as in the national social media advertising markets.
The amount of the fine was set taking into account "duration and gravity of the infringement, as well as the turnover of Facebook Marketplace". In addition to paying the fine, Meta is also obliged to "to bring the conduct effectively to an end, and to refrain from repeating the infringement or from adopting practices with an equivalent object or effect in the future.."
Meta denied using competitors' advertising data and promised to appeal the fine in order to "promote better outcomes for European consumers." The company claims that Marketplace was created in response to consumer demand. The company claims that the EC's decision "ignores the realities of the thriving European market" and "will only serve to protect incumbent marketplaces from competition."