Meta to Appeal €798 Million EC Fine

Meta Platforms will appeal a European Commission fine of €798 million issued for breaching competition rules by linking its classified advertising service to Facebook. The social media company says the decision is ignoring market realities.

In a response to the regulator’s decision, the tech giant claims the EC failed to provide any evidence of harm to rivals or consumers, asserting its social media users had the option not to use Facebook Marketplace. “While the EC could not find any evidence of harm to competitors, they claim the entry and expansion of Facebook Marketplace has the potential to hinder the growth of large incumbent online marketplaces in the EU instead.”

Listing commercially successful rivals active across several EU markets, Meta claims the EC’s move would only serve to protect incumbent marketplaces from competition. “The real problem is that this case entirely distorts competition law. Regulations are intended to protect the competitive process and consumers, not to preserve the established business positions of incumbent providers in the face of innovation. Ironically, in the name of competition, this decision does just that at a huge cost to consumers.”

In another case, Meta decided to follow the EC guidance and made changes to its pay-or-consent advertising model on Facebook and Instagram which was found to breach DMA rules. Over the coming weeks, EU-based Facebook and Instagram users can pick between subscribing to an ad-free experience or continuing to access the services for free. Those who take the free option will see fewer personalized ads while using social media platforms. With the less personalized option, Meta will use significantly less data to create targeted ads.

Despite the move, the company noted it remained committed to personalized advertising, which will always be the cornerstone of a free and inclusive internet. Social media users who opt into the new feature will see ads based on their gender, age, location, and activity on Facebook and Instagram. Meta will also roll out an ad break feature which means that some of the ads people will see in the less personalized ads experience will be unskippable for a few seconds.

It also reduced the monthly price for its ad-free subscription on the web to €5.99 a month from €9.99, and to €7.99 from €12.99 on iOS and Android devices. Facebook and Instagram launched a no-ads subscription service in Europe a year ago, which requires users to subscribe to ad-free versions or consent to having their data tracked. The EC’s procedural step found the previous advertising model does not allow users to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the personalized ads-based service.