Meta Plans to Challenge EU Over Facebook Marketplace Abuse

Meta plans to challenge antitrust accusations that the European Union has leveled against it.

The EU alleged that Meta stifled competition from classified ad competitors by integrating Facebook Marketplace into its extensive social network, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (July 12).

During a confidential hearing in Brussels Thursday (July 13), the social media platform will seek to challenge the EU’s claims that its actions constituted an unlawful abuse of dominance, according to the report.

In December, the European Commission issued a statement of objections against the California-based company.

EU regulators said Meta imposed unjust trading conditions that enable it to exploit data from rival online classified ad services for its Marketplace platform. They also raised concerns about Meta’s insistence on a Facebook social media account as a prerequisite for accessing Facebook Marketplace.

Meta cited a prior statement from Tim Lamb, its senior legal representative in Europe, wherein he asserted that the EU’s allegations are baseless, Bloomberg reported. He also affirmed Meta’s commitment to continued cooperation with regulatory bodies.

Facebook Marketplace has also faced scrutiny from other regulators, including the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). In May, the regulator approved a series of concessions proposed by Facebook concerning the Marketplace, per the report.

The EU’s antitrust branch has not yet accepted any commitments regarding a pledge to give advertisers the option to refrain from using their data to enhance the Facebook Marketplace, according to the report.

Also in May, the company was fined a record $1.3 billion for violating Europe’s data privacy law.

The fine by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), came after the regulator found that Meta violated Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by failing to protect European Facebook users’ data from U.S. surveillance practices.

Europe and the U.S. reached a data-sharing agreement Monday (July 10) called the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

“On the basis of the new adequacy decision, personal data can flow safely from the EU to U.S. companies participating in the framework, without having to put in place additional data protection safeguards,” the European Commission said at the time.