- The European Commission has stated that Meta is in violation of antitrust regulations for allegedly restricting competition in the 'online classifieds market’, but Meta denied having anti-competitive business activities. If proven correct, this assertion may cost Meta fines of up to 10% of the company's annual global revenue. Analysts predict that Meta will generate revenues of roughly $116B in 2022 and $117.9B in 2021, making the highest possible penalty that the EU could impose around $10B.
- The Commission alleged that Meta was imposing unfair trade restrictions on rival online classified ad providers that run advertisements on Facebook or Instagram, in addition to attaching its classified ads business to its social network. It expressed concern that the terms and conditions, which permit Meta to use advertising-related data obtained from rivals for Facebook Marketplace, are excessive.
Why it matters
Meta is not the only company on the Commission's radar. In March, it launched an investigation to determine if Meta and Google had colluded to weaken and eliminate a rival technology to Google's Open Bidding from the market for displaying advertisements on publisher websites and applications. This would have violated EU antitrust laws. But, the Commission has now stated that this antitrust inquiry was over.
