Meta Braces for Costly EU Fine Over Marketplace: Report

Meta Platforms, Inc. META reportedly faces a substantial EU fine over allegations that it is attempting to monopolize the classified advertising market.

Brussels is intensifying its crackdown on anti-competitive practices among major tech companies, reported Financial Times.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager will likely manage the investigation. Meta did not provide additional comments to the Financial Times but reiterated a prior statement that the European Commission’s claims are unfounded.

The company reportedly emphasized that it is collaborating with regulatory authorities to prove that its product innovations are both consumer-friendly and competitive.

Read: Meta Platforms Faces A Looming EU Antitrust Fine, Braces For Market Turbulence Yet Surprises With A Steady 28% Year-To-Date Gain

As per the report, EU regulators are expected to argue that Facebook’s parent company is linking its free Marketplace services with the social network to disadvantage its competitors. The decision from the EU could be announced as soon as next month.

In July, Reuters reported that the technology giant was poised to receive its first EU antitrust fine for linking its classified advertisements service, Marketplace, with its Facebook social network.

In the same month, the European Commission reportedly planned to charge Meta for failing to comply with new tech regulations due to its recently introduced pay-or-consent advertising model, which was launched in November.

Last year, Meta attempted to resolve the EU investigation by restricting the use of competitors’ advertising data for Facebook Marketplace, but the EU enforcer rejected this offer. However, the U.K. competition regulator accepted a similar proposal.

Related: Meta Says Facebook Is ‘Free’ — EU Threatens To Fine Mark Zuckerberg-Led Social Media Giant

Investors can gain access to the stock via Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares METU and The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC.

Price Action: META shares are up 0.42% at $538.55 premarket at the last check Wednesday.

Image via Shutterstock

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.