Following the European Commission’s ruling on Facebook marketplace and the fine of $840 million, Meta has said it will appeal the decision.
In a blog post on its official website, the company said the EU made the decision without considering the interest of its European consumers in mind.
It also added that the decision provides no evidence that Facebook Marketplace has done any harm to users or hindered competitors.
What happened
Reports on 14 November indicate that the European Union fined Meta the sum of 798 million Euros (roughly $840 million) for allegedly breaching European rules by linking Facebook Marketplace to its social network, Facebook.
The commission said that by linking the marketplace to Facebook, Meta compelled Facebook users to interact with the marketplace whether they liked it or not, thus violating their right to choose.
Meta was also accused of imposing unfair trading conditions on other platforms that advertised on Facebook and Instagram to gain competitive advantage.
According to the EU commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager, Meta was finde for:
“abusing its dominant positions in the markets for personal social network services and for online display advertising on social media platforms.”
However in a swift response, Meta said Facebook Marketplace was created in response to consumer demand. It wrote that:
“We built Facebook Marketplace in 2016 to provide a more convenient and easy-to-use way for people to discover, buy, and sell items at no charge. In doing so, we provided European users with a new choice beyond the large incumbent online marketplaces that have dominated the landscape for a long time and continue to do so.“
The company also maintained that the Facebook users do have a choice to interact with the marketplace or not, and that Meta doesn’t use advertising data from rival marketplaces that advertise on Facebook to compete against them with Facebook Marketplace.
Catering to European users
Meta has faced several other fines in Europe this year, one of which is the $1.3 billion fine by the EDPB in May. However, the company seems determined to provide services in the region.
It launched no ads subscription on Facebook and Instagram for European consumers at a subsidized rate this week in a bid to ensure that they get the best out of the platforms.
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