Meta has been slapped with a €798 million (£664 million) fine for breaching competition laws by integrating Facebook Marketplace into its social network. The European Commission argued that this practice created “unfair trading conditions” for competing online classified ad services, making it more difficult for them to compete.
In addition to the fine, the Commission has instructed Meta to stop imposing these conditions on other services.
Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s findings and plans to appeal the decision. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Facebook’s actions hindered other classified ad providers, giving its own Marketplace service an unfair advantage that competitors could not match.
The EU has ordered Meta to cease these practices and refrain from repeating them in the future.
Meta responded by stating that the Commission had not provided any evidence showing harm to either competitors or consumers. The company claimed the ruling ignored market realities and would only protect established marketplaces from competition.
The decision follows an investigation launched by the European Commission in 2021, after complaints from Meta’s competitors that Facebook Marketplace was giving the company an unfair edge in the market.
Meta has not faced a competition-related fine from the EU until now, though it was previously fined €110 million in 2017 for failing to provide accurate information during its acquisition of WhatsApp. Additionally, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner has imposed fines totaling over €1 billion on Meta for mishandling user data during transfers between Europe and the U.S.
In 2021, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Meta £50 million for deliberately breaching regulations during its attempted acquisition of GIF-maker Giphy, ultimately forcing Meta to sell the company.
This latest ruling reflects a broader trend of global regulators taking a tougher stance on major tech companies. For instance, the U.S. government is considering breaking up Google in response to concerns over its market dominance.