The EU severely fined Facebook, violated these rules

The company “Meta” has been fined 798m euros for violating the competition law through “Facebook Marketplay” inside the social network.

The European Commission said Meta has created unfair trade conditions for alternative services of classified proclamations, making their competition difficult. For this reason, the Commission has imposed the fine on Meta and has ordered the company to stop imposing these conditions on other services.

Meta has rejected the Commission's findings and has announced he will appeal the verdict. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager accused Facebook of obstructing other online services of classified proclamations to favour his service, Facebook Marketwork.

“Meta must stop this behavior,” Vestager said, adding that the EU urges the company not to repeat this violation anymore.

Meta, in turn, said the Commission has offered no evidence of harm to competition or consumers. This decision ignores market realities and will only protect existing markets from competition,” the company said.

The Investigation That Leads to a Reward

The decision came after an open investigation by the European Commission in 2021, after Meta's rivals complained that Facebook Marketwork gave an unfair advantage to the company.

This is not the first case Meta faces fines in the EU. In 2017 the company was fined 110m euros for failing to provide accurate information when it bought whatsapp. Also, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner has imposed more than 1 billion euros in fines against Meta for mishandling user data during transfer between Europe and the US.

Global pressure on technology giants

This decision comes as regulators worldwide are taking tougher measures against major technology companies. In the US, the government is considering the possibility of sharing Google in an effort to strengthen competition.