Facebook Marketplace violations: EU imposes 800 million euro fine

The EU Commission has imposed a fine of almost 800 million euros on Meta because Facebook is unlawfully favoring its own marketplace over the competition. This was announced by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Thursday and is a violation of EU antitrust law. This concerns the close link between Facebook and the Facebook Marketplace, thanks to which every Facebook account automatically has access to the marketplace. This puts competitors at a disadvantage, as do the unfair trading conditions that Facebook imposes on them. Both must be stopped.

Deterrence for Meta

The accusation of anti-competitive preferential treatment was made by the European Commission two years ago. Meta then had time to respond. The US company apparently did not succeed in convincing the Brussels institution. The close link between Facebook and the classifieds service had given the latter a significant sales advantage. According to the EU Commission, the unfair trading conditions relate in particular to competitors who place advertisements on Meta's platforms. The accusation is that data generated by these advertisers on Facebook and Instagram can be used by Meta exclusively to the advantage of the Marketplace.

Facebook's preferential treatment therefore violates Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The sum of exactly 797.72 million euros was determined on the basis of the duration and severity of the infringement, as well as the turnover of the Facebook Marketplace. Meta's total turnover was also taken into account "in order to achieve a sufficient deterrent effect on a company with such large resources as Meta". Meta was also instructed to effectively cease the conduct and not to resume the abusive behavior.

(mho)