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Meta , the parent of Facebook , Instagram , and WhatsApp , has been hit with yet another vast regulative fine in Europe , this meter over scurrilous practices related to Facebook Marketplace . The European Commissionannouncedthat it would fine Meta € 797.72 million — closely $ 840 million — for gap EU antitrust normal connected to how it ties its online classified ads table service , Facebook Marketplace , to Facebook itself , make “ unjust trading consideration ” for other supplier of classifieds online .
The fine is the latest installment of a case that date back toJune 2021 . In December 2022 , the regulatorsdeterminedthat Facebook Marketplace assault antimonopoly rules . Today , it ’s issue the penalty for that intrusion .
“ Today we fine Meta € 797.72 million for shout its prevalent position in the market for personal social web services and for on-line show advertising on social media platform , ” Margrethe Vestager , executive vice Chief Executive in charge of competition policy , say in a statement .
“ Meta tied its on-line classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal societal internet Facebook and imposed unjust trading conditions on other on-line classified advertising table service provider . It did so to do good its own service Facebook Marketplace , thereby giving it advantages that other online classified advertizing service providers could not match . This is illegal under EU antitrust rules . Meta must now stop this behaviour . ”
Facebook has been quick to reply , suppose that it will appeal the opinion . “ This determination ignores the realities of the thriving European grocery for on-line classified itemisation services and shield big incumbent companies from a fresh entrant , Facebook Marketplace , that meets consumer need in innovative and convenient young ways , ” the ship’s company write in astatement .
Meta has cumulatively confront billions of dollar mark in fine in Europe for a variety of violation over the last several years . In September it was finedover $ 100 millionrelated to a surety breach in which user parole were uncover . In January 2023 , it was finedmore than $ 400 millionacross a series of ravishment .
In May 2023 , it was finedover $ 1 billionrelated to GDPR trespass . one by one , it has faced other legal issues in Europe . In December 2023 , we reported that it wasfacing a $ 600 million damages claimin Spain relate to a privacy rift case . regulative caseful can take year to nail , and Meta is in various stages of appeal around these amercement .
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Some of these eventually do lead to the troupe paying up . In the U.S. it nail down with the FTC in a 2019 case where it paid up $ 5 billion and put newfangled privacy practices in place .
fine are calculated on a sliding scale but can amount to up to 30 % of a company ’s sales in the relevant family , the European Commissionsays .
The mulct comes at a time when tides are changing fast in politics , not least because of the changing of the guard in the U.S. , with the executive and legislative branches now all keep in line by the Republicans .
Some of that could have reverberation in regulation , and how Big Tech is regulated , not just in the U.S. but further afield . So far observers have named cybersecurity , M&A , and cryptocurrency as areas that might be revisit ; it will be worth watching to see how social medium , data protective cover , and privacy — three areas that refer Meta — are treated in the years to come .
