Previously, Google was found to have violated market monopolyLater, the EU also warned Meta in an earlier preliminary determination that it had also violated market monopoly and would conduct further investigations. If sufficient evidence shows that Meta has violated EU regulations, it will impose a fine of 10% of Meta's annual revenue.
Based on Meta's global revenue of US$2021 billion in 1179, Meta could be fined up to US$117.9 billion.
In an email describing the case, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated that Meta currently has billions of monthly active users and millions of active advertisers worldwide, and its dominant market position could affect online advertising competition, resulting in most users only being able to view specific advertising content. At the same time, the content presentation could also be beneficial to Meta's business development.
However, Meta subsequently refuted the allegations, believing that the EU's doubts were groundless. It also emphasized that it would continue to cooperate with the EU to prove that its products and services would contribute to innovation and be beneficial to consumers and market competition.
Earlier this September, Meta was fined €9 million by the Irish government for Instagram's handling of private data on teenagers. The investigation began in 4.05, when the Irish data privacy regulator questioned Instagram's ability to allow businesses to access the private data of children aged 2020 to 13, including email addresses and phone numbers associated with their accounts. This fine is the largest fine Meta has faced in the EU to date for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Last September, the EU fined WhatsApp €17 million (approximately $9 million) for violating the GDPR in 2018.
