Meta Accused of Breaching Antitrust Policies Connected to Facebook Marketplace

The European Commission accused Meta of going against its antitrust laws by using its Facebook marketplace to promote ads. Meta could be fined up to 10% of its annual global turnover if it is found guilty of a violation.

The commission accused Meta of using its power in the tech industry to incorporate online classified ads into its business and of causing unfair trading conditions on rivals for its own benefit.

According to the antitrust statement, Meta reaches billions of monthly users and millions of advertisers on Facebook. If Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services called Facebook Marketplace, users have no choice but to have access to Facebook Marketplace.

Users on the media platform have automatic access to the Marketplace, regardless of whether they want it or not.

The EU Commission placed Facebook's Marketplace under scrutiny due to the fact that it was used by 800 million people to buy and sell items. In June of last year, the commission launched an investigation to determine if Meta was using customers' data to compete unfairly with advertisers.

According to a source, Meta doesn't use advertising data from competitors. They said that the company gives users the option to use Marketplace, which they said provides more options for consumers.

The EU Antitrust policy encourages efficiency and innovation. The commission says that to be effective, competition requires companies to act independently of each other, but subject to the competitive pressure by the others.

The platform is used by nearly three billion people who have immediate access to it, and the commission is looking into the matter. Anti-competitive conduct regulations were created to make sure companies don't create monopolies in the market.

Data should not be used to distort competition in the digital economy, according to the head of the European Commission. We will look at the data to see if it gives Facebook an unfair advantage in the online classified ads sector, where people buy and sell goods every day, and where Facebook competes with companies from which it collects data.

Meta will review the complaints and cooperate with the investigation. The European Commission's claims are not supported by any evidence. Meta will continue to work with regulatory authorities to demonstrate that their product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive, according to a Meta spokesman.