The European Union (EU) fined Facebook's parent company Meta 798 million dollars or 797 million 20 thousand euros (840 million dollars or 840 million dollars) yesterday. The fine was imposed by the European Commission for violating antitrust laws by giving users automatic access to classified advertising services on Facebook's marketplace. This information is known in the report of news agency Reuters.
In a statement, the European Union's executive department said Meta had breached EU anti-trust or competition law. User personal accounts are linked to Facebook Marketplace. Along with this, unfair commercial terms have been imposed on other online classified ad service providers who advertise on the company's various platforms.
Meta said it will appeal the decision. However, it also said it would work to present a solution quickly and constructively.
US tech company Meta was accused by the European Commission two years ago. The commission said at the time that Facebook was illegally taking an unfair advantage by combining the Marketplace with its classified advertising service.
In June 2021, the European Union opened a formal investigation into possible anti-competitive behavior by Facebook. In December 2022, concerns were raised that Meta was linking its dominant social media platform, Facebook, to its online classifieds advertising service.
Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016, and a year later it launched the service in several European countries.
The European Union says Meta imposes an illegal imposition of Facebook Marketplace on Facebook users.
But on the contrary, the company said, 'Facebook users decide whether to join their marketplace or not. The reality is, people use Facebook's marketplace because they want to. They are not obliged to use it.'
Meta also says it has found no evidence of harm to competitors such as the European Commission claims hinders the development of large established online marketplaces in the EU.
The European Union can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global revenue for violating anti-trust laws.
