BRUSSELS — The European Union and the U.K. have actually introduced antitrust examinations into Facebook’s usage of marketing information in its classified advertisements company, probes which might require it to alter its company design on top of substantial fines.
The European Commission and Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority are examining whether Facebook utilizes information from marketers to take on them.
The opening of European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s very first antitrust probe into the world’s biggest social media marks her newest battle with among the U.S. tech giants.
Vestager has actually slapped more than 8 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in fines on Alphabet system Google and is likewise examining Amazon and Apple.
Vestager will focus on Facebook’s large chest of information from the near 7 million business that advertize on Facebook.
“We will look in detail at whether this data gives Facebook an undue competitive advantage in particular on the online classified ads sector, where people buy and sell goods every day, and where Facebook also competes with companies from which it collects data,” she stated.
“In today’s digital economy, data should not be used in ways that distort competition,” Vestager stated.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority likewise revealed its own examination into whether the network is abusing its dominant position in social networks or digital marketing through its collection and usage of information.
Facebook stated it will comply completely with both the E.U. and U.K. examinations “to demonstrate that they are without merit.”
It stated its “marketplace and dating offer people more choices, both products operate in highly competitive environment with many large incumbents.”
