EU Fines Meta $843M For Tying Marketplace to Facebook, Harming Competitors

Meta Platforms (META) has been fined 797.72 million euros ($843.31 million) by European regulators who accused the company of harming other classified marketplace providers in Europe by attaching its Marketplace product to Facebook.

The European Commission, the enforcement arm of the European Union, said Thursday that tying Marketplace to Facebook “means that all Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not.” The commission argues that gives Marketplace a “substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.”

The fine is the latest antitrust ruling against Big Tech companies by European regulators, which have stepped up their challenges to the dominance of companies like Meta, Alphabet (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Meta said it plans to appeal the decision, arguing that it “ignores the realities of the thriving European market” for classified providers and simply protects incumbent European companies from a new competitor in Facebook Marketplace.

The company said it doesn’t force Marketplace on anyone, as many Facebook users choose to completely ignore the service. Meta said the commission’s argument is based on potential future harm rather than actual harm that has come to European companies.

Marketplace Fine Follows Progression of FTC Lawsuit

The decision in Europe comes a day after a judge allowed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit attempting to break up Meta to move forward. The suit, which started in 2020, argues that Meta acted to stifle competition by buying Instagram and WhatsApp.

“We are confident that the evidence at trial will show that the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been good for competition and consumers,” a Meta spokesperson told Investopedia.

The spokesperson continued: “More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared these deals, and despite the overwhelming evidence that our services compete with YouTube, TikTok, X, Apple’s iMessage, and many others, the Commission is wrongly continuing to assert that no deal is ever truly final, and businesses can be punished for innovating.”

Meta shares were little changed in Thursday afternoon trading at $579.85, up over 63% since the start of 2024.