EU fines Meta EUR 798m over Facebook Marketplace competition concerns

(Sharecast News) - The European Union has imposed a €797.72m fine on Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms, it emerged on Thursday, after a detailed investigation into its Marketplace online classifieds business.

According to the Independent, the significant penalty from the European Commission was based on findings that Meta abused its market dominance and employed anti-competitive tactics.

The investigation found that Meta unfairly leveraged its social network by automatically integrating Marketplace into the Facebook platform, effectively exposing all users to the service regardless of their interest, sidelining competing platforms.

Additionally, the EC found that Meta imposed unfavourable terms on advertisers, allowing it to use data derived from competitors advertising on Facebook and Instagram to strengthen its own classified ad business.

Meta rejected the EU's allegations, the Independent reported, claiming the decision disregarded the competitive landscape of Europe's online classifieds sector and failed to demonstrate any actual harm to consumers or rival companies.

The company said it planned to appeal the ruling.

At 1029 EST (1529 GMT), shares in Meta Platforms were down 0.68% in MNew York at $576.04.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.