Meta has copped another big fine in Europe, after the company was called to pay 797.72 million euros ($US841 million) for breach of EU antitrust rules in linking Facebook Marketplace to the social media, the advantages it created on the market for the user-listed market service by Facebook.

Then, in 2022, the EU Commission accused Facebook of breaching local antitrust regulations concerning abuse by having a dominant position as it was "distorting competition in markets for online classified ads.".

The opinion of the Commission was that Facebook was taking advantage of the size of its social network for giving Facebook Marketplace an undue competitive advantage over other online classifieds providers, since Facebook users were being entitled to access Marketplace whether they want it or not. The Commission also seemed to insinuate that Meta had imposed unfair trading conditions on competing online classified ad services that advertise on Facebook or Instagram.

The investigation has reached its climax as the officials in the European Union have announced the heavy fine that could actually have been a lot more based on the rules of EU.

As per the EU Commission:

"The Commission's investigation found that Meta is dominant in the market for personal social networks, which is at least European Economic Area ('EEA') wide, as well as in the national markets for online display advertising on social media."

With this reach, Facebook has been considered to have considerable market power and had used this factor to silence its competitors quietly, along with curtailing their ad reach.

"In calculating the amount of the fine, the Commission has taken into account the duration and seriousness of the infringement, as well as Facebook Marketplace's turnover to which the infringements at issue relate and which accordingly determines the amount of the basic amount of the fine. Furthermore, the Commission has taken into account Meta's aggregate turnover as a means of ensuring that a company with such immense resources like Meta is adequately deterred from committing further such acts.".

Meta has promised to appeal the decision, but it clarifies that online marketplaces not created by Facebook itself had existed before the social media company launched Marketplace in that territory.

"When Facebook Marketplace was first announced globally in 2016, people in the European Economic Area organically created over 400,000 groups focused on buying, selling or promoting goods on Facebook.".

Meta has also urged the court to rule that local marketplaces are thriving even in the shadow of Marketplace and that the EU's case is predicated on effects that have yet to occur.

"EU competition law is designed to safeguard the process of competition and consumers, not to preserve the status quo of incumbents' business positions in the face of innovation."

Meta does have an argument here, and we'll be able to see whether the case in the EU can be sustained through challenge, and what that portends for others in the region.

EU regulators were keen to squeeze the social media giants to ensure them to abide by rules around consumer protection that get progressively more constricting. Some of those probes seemed like overreach, and the Commission stamping its authority to show its muscles and it does seem like there might be room to appeal.

For now, however, Meta will have to go along with the verdict, and strive to find ways to pacify the Commission's every concern. Which could see Marketplace be pulled out from EU regions, depending on how they address each element.