Meta Faces Antitrust Charges In Europe Over Use Of Customer Data, Sources Say – National

EU antitrust regulators are drafting an indictment against Facebook parent company Meta, accusing it of using customer data to tie its classified advertising service to its social network, people familiar with the matter said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The European Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover on companies that violate antitrust laws. Meta declined to comment.

The commission launched an investigation into the social network company last June. The UK competition authority also launched an investigation on the same day.

In recent months, the commission has asked Meta’s rivals to remove confidential information from their regulatory submissions. Typically, this is a precursor to the commission sending a statement of objection to the company under investigation detailing what it considers to be anti-competitive behavior.

Meta’s classifieds business, called Facebook Marketplace, was launched in 2016 and is used to buy and sell items in 70 countries.

Politico was the first to report that a statement of objection is imminent.

1:29Instagram meta-updates safety measures for teens