EU and UK Launch Joint Antitrust Probes Into Facebook Marketplace
European and British regulators open formal antitrust investigations into Facebook's classified ads and dating services over alleged misuse of competitor data.
European and British regulators open formal antitrust investigations into Facebook, targeting the company's classified ads business and dating services. The European Commission examines whether Facebook illegally uses advertiser data to compete against them and improperly ties its Marketplace feature to its dominant social network.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority launches a similar probe focusing on Facebook's use of data from rival classified ad operators and online dating providers. Authorities in Europe and the UK confirm they will work closely together on these parallel investigations.
Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager expresses concern that Facebook holds an undue competitive advantage by collecting vast troves of data from the nearly 3 billion users on its platform. Facebook shares fall 1.2% in premarket trading as the company joins Google, Amazon, and Apple as major targets of European antitrust actions.