Meta Fined €797.72 Million ($840 Million) by EU for Antitrust Violations

Nov 14, 2024, 02:07 PM

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, has been fined €797.72 million ($840 million) by the European Commission for violating EU antitrust rules through abusive practices involving its Facebook Marketplace. The regulators found that Meta abused its dominant position by tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its social network, automatically exposing Facebook users to Marketplace whether they wanted it or not. The commission also stated that Meta imposed unfair trading conditions on competing online classified ad services by using competitors' advertising data unfairly. This is Meta's first-ever penalty for EU antitrust violations and its largest fine yet in Europe. Meta announced plans to appeal the decision, asserting that the EU provided no evidence of harm to competitors or consumers.