Brussels [Belgium], November 14 (HBTV): The European Commission on Thursday imposed a hefty fine of approximately 800 million euros on Meta for violating EU antitrust rules through its Facebook Marketplace platform.

In a statement, the Commission said, 'The European Commission has fined Meta 797.72 million euros for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.'

The European Commission stated that Meta tied its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook.

'This means that all Facebook users automatically have access and are regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace, whether they want it or not. The Commission found that competitors of Facebook Marketplace may be foreclosed, as the tie gives Facebook Marketplace a substantial distribution advantage that competitors cannot match,' the European Commission explained.

In a statement, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy at the European Commission, said that the fine was imposed because Meta abused its dominant position in the markets for personal social network services and online display advertising on social media platforms.

'Meta tied its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and imposed unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers. 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,' Vestager said.

In response to the European Commission's fine, Meta argued that it created Marketplace in response to consumer demand. In a statement, Meta said, 'This decision ignores the market realities and will only serve to protect incumbent marketplaces from competition. The European Commission's decision provides no evidence of competitive harm to rivals or any harm to consumers.'

Meta further stated that it will appeal the decision to promote better outcomes for European consumers.   

(ANI)