BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it had informed Meta, Facebook’s parent company, that it was potentially breaching European Union (EU) anti-competition laws by distorting competition in online advertising markets and abusing its dominant position.
“The Commission criticizes Meta for linking its online advertising service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network, Facebook. It is also concerned that Meta is imposing unfair commercial conditions on competitors of Facebook Marketplace for its benefit. “, said the Commission in a press release relaying its preliminary opinion.
Meta spokesman Tim Lamb said the European Commission’s allegations were baseless.
“We will continue to work with regulators to ensure that our product innovation is good for consumers and good for competition,” he added.
Sending a statement of objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, the Commission said, adding that if it found an infringement, it could impose a fine of up to to 10% of the worldwide annual turnover of the company concerned.
(Bart Meijer and Foo Yun Chee report; French version Federica Mileo, edited by Kate Entringer)