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EU fines Meta $842 million in a Facebook Marketplace antitrust case

The European Commission has fined Meta $842 million for antitrust violations related to Facebook Marketplace. It said the company “abused its dominant positions” as a leader in the social networking space.

“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,” it claimed. The EC said in the preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation that Meta violated the Digital Markets Act with its approach to an ad-free subscription, as it required EU users to consent to highly targeted advertising or pay to avoid it. This week, Meta lowered the monthly subscription fee and said it would offer an advertising option that won't use as much of a user's data, though this will include some unskippable ads.

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