EU Targets Meta This Time... Faces Up to 18 Trillion Won Fine Risk

Allegations of Abuse of Dominant Position in the Advertising Market

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, faces the risk of paying a fine exceeding 18 trillion won to the European Union (EU).

According to major foreign media including Bloomberg on the 25th (local time), the EU Commission plans to impose a fine of up to $13.4 billion (approximately 18.567 trillion won) on Meta for abusing its dominant position in the classified advertising market.

The Commission took issue with Meta linking its social networking service (SNS) Facebook with its online advertising service, Facebook Marketplace. This connection provides Facebook Marketplace with a distribution advantage that competitors cannot match, forcing users to use Marketplace.

Additionally, the Commission judged that Meta abused its dominant market position by unilaterally imposing unfair trading conditions on competing online classified advertising services that place ads on Meta’s own services such as Facebook or Instagram. The Commission began investigating these allegations in June 2021, announced preliminary findings in December 2022, and then launched a full investigation.

Accordingly, the Commission may impose a fine of up to $13.4 billion, which amounts to 10% of Meta’s global revenue last year.

Sources say that along with the fine, the Commission may recommend that Meta create a separate advertising platform instead of Facebook Marketplace to weaken Meta’s market dominance. If this happens, users of Facebook Marketplace would be able to log in without going through the SNS.

Sources expect the final decision on this matter to be announced around September to October, before the term of Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s Executive Vice President for Competition, ends in November. However, the announcement could be delayed.

The EU, having fallen behind US big tech companies in technological competition, is wielding the sword against big tech monopolies to reclaim sovereignty. Separately from this case, the Commission is also scrutinizing Meta for violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). According to sources, the Commission is preparing to force Facebook to stop using competitors’ advertising platform data to compete against them. This matter is currently confidential and still in draft form.