EU Files Antitrust Charges Against Meta for Marketplace Service

European Union antitrust watchdogs have filed a formal complaint against Meta Platforms Inc. for allegedly using its social network to give its own classified ad service an unfair advantage over competitors. They claim that the company has been tying the Facebook Marketplace to its own network.

On Monday, the European Commission announced that it had issued a statement of objections to Meta, which could lead to the imposition of fines or alterations to the company's operations.

EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated in an email that Meta's Facebook social network has a global reach of billions of monthly users and millions of active advertisers. She also expressed her preliminary concern that Meta ties its dominant social network to its online classified ad services, Facebook Marketplace, leaving Facebook users with no other option but to have access to it.

The European Union's regulatory body expressed worries that Meta has established unfair trading conditions that give it access to data from other online classified advertisement services.

The most recent incident is part of a long-term effort by the European Union to limit the influence of tech giants such as Google, Apple, and Amazon. This has resulted in numerous investigations, penalties, and stricter regulations. Facebook was previously penalized for not providing accurate information during the WhatsApp acquisition review. Meta is also being investigated in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Tim Lamb, the head of EMEA competition for Meta, declared in a statement that the allegations made by the European Commission are baseless. He further stated that the company will continue to collaborate with regulatory authorities to prove that their product innovation is beneficial to both consumers and competition.

Since 2019, the European Union's regulatory body based in Brussels has been conducting an inquiry into Facebook's activities involving Meta. In an effort to impede the investigation, the social media platform has filed lawsuits in an attempt to restrict the data that officials can access.

It appears that Amazon is likely to reach a settlement with the European Union regarding antitrust cases by the end of the year.

On Monday, the EU took action against Meta, as they are about to declare a resolution in a similar investigation into how Amazon utilizes the sales data of its competitors and if it is giving its own products an unfair advantage.

On Monday, the EU concluded their separate antitrust investigation into the advertising agreement between Meta and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, known as "Jedi Blue," and determined that it did not impede competition. Despite this, the EU is still continuing to investigate the Meta case. The UK's CMA is also still looking into the accord.