The European Commission has imposed a hefty fine of 797.12 million euros on Meta for abusing its dominant position in the social networking market. The European Commission claims that Meta tied Facebook Marketplace to Facebook, imposing unfair conditions on other online advertising providers.
The Commission claims that this practice gave Meta an unfair advantage, as all Facebook users have access to the Marketplace without any stake. Moreover, third-party classified ad services were subject to unfair trading conditions, allowing Meta to use their data to benefit Facebook Marketplace.
Meta announced that it will appeal against the fine decision to meet consumer demand for innovative and convenient services. However, the company is also under scrutiny from the European Commission for possible breaches of the Digital Markets Act, particularly concerning its ad-free subscription model.
To address regulatory concerns, Meta recently reduced its monthly subscription fees and introduced less data-intensive advertising options. It remains to be seen how these measures will affect the company’s ongoing investigations and future activities within the EU.
