European Commission Investigates Meta’s Marketplace Tactics

Meta is once again facing potential fines from the European Commission, which is investigating the company’s practice of linking its Marketplace service to Facebook. The Financial Times reports that the Commission’s findings could lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of Meta’s global annual revenue, which totaled nearly €127 billion last year. Meta is expected to appeal any fine imposed.

The Commission’s initial probe began in 2019, with preliminary findings announced three years later. Margrethe Vestager, the then Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, stated that Meta was leveraging its dominant position in social networking to promote its online classified ad service, Facebook Marketplace. The Commission also expressed concerns about Meta’s use of data from competing online classified ad services, which could be considered unfair trading conditions under EU competition rules.

Meta is currently under scrutiny for several other issues, including its election policies, the safety and addiction concerns for minors, and its consent or pay model. These ongoing investigations add to the regulatory pressures the company faces in the European market.

The news comes at a time of transition for the European Commission, with President Ursula von der Leyen announcing her new team. Margrethe Vestager, who has led the competition policy for the past decade, will be replaced by Teresa Ribera. Reports of Vestager’s departure first emerged in August, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing investigations.

Source: Meta could face massive EU fines over Marketplace competition