The European Commission accused Meta of monopoly in the online advertising market

Today, the EU Competition Authority officially presented accusations against the American corporation Meta (recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned), which manages, among other things, the social networks Facebook and Instagram. According to the statement, “the company violated European antitrust laws by harming competition in the classified online advertising market. This happened due to the fact that Meta tied its service for placing such ads, Facebook Marketplace, to its own social network Facebook. The Commission is also concerned that Meta imposes unfavorable conditions on the use of the Facebook Marketplace.”

Antitrust regulators note that Facebook is currently the dominant social network in the EU. “This means that Facebook users automatically get access to the Facebook Marketplace services, whether they want to or not,” the statement said. gives Meta an edge that its competitors can’t afford.”

Now the European Commission intends to conduct a detailed investigation into this practice of Meta. If it turns out that it actually harmed competition in the classified online advertising market, Meta could be found guilty of violating Art. 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position. After that, the EU authorities will determine the punishment for Meta for this violation.

Representatives of the American corporation declaredthat the allegations made today are “baseless” and the company “will continue to work with regulators to show them how our innovative products serve the interests of consumers and competition.”

Evgeniy Khvostik