Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of social media network Facebook, has been fined €797.72 million (A$1.3 billion) by the European Commission for pushing its classified advertisements onto social media users.
The Commission fined Meta for breaching European Union anti-trust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to Facebook and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.
The Commission found Meta abused its dominant positions in Europe in personal social networks and in national markets for online display advertising on social media.
It said all Facebook users automatically had access to and were regularly exposed to Marketplace whether or not they wanted it and that Marketplace competitors may be foreclosed.
Meta also unilaterally imposed unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads providers who advertised on Meta's platforms, in particular on Facebook and Instagram, allowing Meta to use data generated by other advertisers to help Marketplace.
“It did so to benefit its own service Facebook Marketplace, thereby giving it advantages that other online classified ads service providers could not match. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour,” Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said in a press release.
In setting the fine, the Commission considered the infringement’s duration and gravity, the Facebook Marketplace turnover to which the infringements related, and Meta's turnover, to ensure deterrence for a company with resources as significant as Meta's.
Meta said Meta said it would appeal against the fine.
“This decision ignores the realities of the thriving European market for online classified listing services and shields large incumbent companies from a new entrant, Facebook Marketplace, that meets consumer demand in innovative and convenient new ways,” Meta said in statement.
At 8.30am (AEDT) Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) shares were trading at US$577.16 (A$874.48), down $2.84 (0.49%), after trading between $573.01 and $580.76, capitalising the company at $1.46 trillion.