EU accuses Meta of antitrust breaches with classified ads - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3

Tony Avelar - freelancer, FR155217 AP

FILE - Facebook's Meta logo motion is seen astatine the institution office successful Menlo Park, Calif. connected Oct. 28, 2021. Federal regulators unfastened their run to artifact Facebook genitor Meta’s acquisition of virtual-reality institution Within Unlimited and its fittingness app Supernatural, with opening arguments opening Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, successful San Jose, California.

LONDON (AP) — The European Union connected Monday accused Facebook genitor Meta of breaching the bloc’s antitrust rules by distorting contention successful the online classified ads business.

The bloc’s enforcement committee said Monday that it “takes issue” with the tech institution tying its online classified advertisement business, Facebook Marketplace, to Facebook.

That means Facebook users automatically person entree to Marketplace “whether they privation it oregon not,” the European Commission said.

The commission, the 27-nation bloc’s apical antitrust enforcer, said Meta besides imposes unfair trading conditions connected competing online classified advertisement companies that advertise their services connected Facebook oregon Instagram.

Meta didn’t respond instantly to a petition for comment.

The EU’s contention watchdog and its British counterpart past twelvemonth opened duplicate investigations into the company’s classified business.

If confirmed, the practices would beryllium successful breach of EU rules that forestall “abuse of a ascendant marketplace position.”

The committee said it’s preliminary uncovering is that Meta dominates the EU’s societal web marketplace arsenic good arsenic the online show advertizing connected societal media successful the bloc’s nationalist markets.

Companies that breach EU antitrust rules tin beryllium deed with fines worthy up to 10% of their yearly planetary revenue.