The main problem and complaint lies in the abuse of power that the company has regarding the dominance of classified ads and advertising in Facebook Marketplace and Facebook.
As stated by the European CommissionGoal is “dominant in the market of personal social networks.” On the other hand, the company denies having violated the law and has already announced that it will make the decision to appeal.
The statement states that Meta covers at least the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as “in national online advertising markets on social networks”, and that inferred the article 102 of the Functioning Treaty of the EU.
The bonding of your online classifieds service Facebook Marketplace with your personal social network Facebook, “means that all Facebook users have automatic access and they are exposed regularly to Facebook Marketplace, whether they want it or not.
That difference could exclude certain competitors and produce an impossible disadvantage, allowing Meta to use “ad-related data generated by other advertisers for the exclusive Facebook Marketplace benefit“.
What solutions and sanctions does the EU impose?
The commission ordered that Goal put end definitively and specific to this conduct, and that it does not repeat the infraction or adopt similar actions that harm its activity.
The fine of US$840 million was established on the basis of the guidelines of the 2006 Commission regarding fines, taking into account the duration and seriousness of the infringement, and the business weight of Goal.
Regarding the destination of the fine fundthe “revenue is not earmarked for specific expenditure, but Member States’ contributions to the EU budget for the following year are reduced accordingly.” That is, the fines “contribute to financing the EU already reduce the burden on taxpayers“.
Source: Ambito
