Meta hit with €798m fine for breaking competition law

The European Commission has fined Meta €798 million (£664 million) for violating competition laws by integrating Facebook Marketplace directly into its social network platform. 

The Commission argued that this integration disadvantages other classified ads services, making it challenging for them to compete fairly.

Alongside the hefty fine, the Commission has instructed Meta to cease this behavior, citing that it created “unfair trading conditions” for alternative services. Meta has publicly disagreed with the Commission’s assessment and plans to appeal the decision.

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager explained that Meta’s practices hindered other online classified ad platforms, stating, “It did so to benefit its own service, Facebook Marketplace, giving it advantages that competing services couldn't match." Vestager emphasized that Meta must change its practices to avoid repeating these violations.

Meta responded by claiming there was "no evidence" of harm to either competitors or consumers, arguing that the decision overlooks the realities of the market and primarily protects existing marketplaces from competition.

The investigation leading to this decision began in 2021 after complaints from Meta's rivals about Marketplace’s perceived advantage.

This is not Meta's first interaction with EU regulations; the company previously paid €110 million in 2017 for providing incorrect information when acquiring WhatsApp. Meta has also faced fines from the Irish Data Protection Commissioner and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over separate issues, including data transfer practices and the Giphy acquisition.