Facebook Marketplace

Meta faces competition fine in the billions

According to insiders, Meta is facing a billion-euro fine from the European Union for violating competition rules. The authorities are expected to impose the fine within the next few weeks, several people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The antitrust watchdogs accuse the US company of illegally linking its online network Facebook with the Facebook Marketplace advertising portal. In addition, Meta puts Marketplace competitors at a disadvantage when they want to advertise on Facebook or Instagram.

The decision on the fine is to be announced before the end of the current EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's term of office in November, the insiders added. The EU Commission did not wish to comment on this issue.

Meta rejects accusations
Meta confirmed earlier statements that the allegations were unfounded. In the event of violations of EU antitrust law, companies face penalties of up to ten percent of their global annual turnover. In Meta's case, this would be 13.4 billion dollars. However, the penalties actually imposed are usually significantly lower.