BRUSSELS: The European Union fined online giant Meta almost 800 million euros ($840m) on Thursday for breaching anti-trust rules by giving users of its Facebook social network automatic access to classified ads service Facebook Marketplace.

The European Commission said the US tech titan also abused its dominant position by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers that advertise on its platforms.

“This is illegal under EU anti-trust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour,” the bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement.

Meta said it would appeal, alleging the decision ignored “the realities of the thriving European market for online classified listing services.

“Facebook users can choose whether or not to engage with Marketplace, and many don’t. The reality is that people use Facebook Marketplace because they want to, not because they have to,” the firm said in a statement.

Among the 10 largest antitrust fines ever imposed by the 27-nation European Union, it is the latest in a string of hefty penalties slapped on Big Tech companies in recent years by the commission, the regulator for the bloc.

‘Abusive practices’

Detailing what it termed “abusive practices” by Meta, the commission said that because Facebook Marketplace was tied to Facebook, the former enjoyed a “substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match”. “All Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not,” it said.

Additionally, Meta imposed unfair conditions on competitors in the classified ads service who advertised on Facebook and Instagram, the commission said.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024