European fine for Meta for abusing Facebook Marketplace

Facebook parent company could be on the hook for billions of euros

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Meta is likely to be fined by the EU for linking its Marketplace ad service to Facebook. It was preceded by a year-and-a-half of investigations.

Meta allegedly abused its dominance by unilaterally imposing unfair trading terms on competing online advertisers on Facebook or Instagram, reported Reuters.

The fine could reach $13.4 billion, or 10% of global revenues by 2023, although EU sanctions are usually much lower than that ceiling.

The Commission is likely to announce its decision in September or October before EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager steps down in November.

The company tried to settle the EU investigation last year by restricting its use of competitors’ ad data for Facebook Marketplace, but that concession was rejected by the EU enforcer, other sources told Reuters. A similar offer was accepted by Britain’s competition authority.

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