Lekha G
According to reports, Facebook to face its first EU antitrust investigation as a result of regulators zooming in on its online marketplace after receiving complaints from rivals about the service.
As a result of the questionnaires conducted by the European Commission in 2019 asking if Facebook Marketplace was considered as a rival in classified ads services and how many visits to the competitors sites came from ads placed on Facebook’s site, Classified ads competitors had complained that Facebook used its market power to give it an unfair competitive advantage.
The Commission is also probing into the process followed by Facebook in collecting and monetizing its data in a separate case.
The investigation might result in a lengthy process in issuing a decision that could include a fine as much as 10% of global turnover and an order to stop anti-competitive practices.
Facebook’s online marketplace has been used by 800 million Facebook users in 70 countries to buy and sell items.