The EU antitrust authority has started investigations against Facebook

The EU antitrust authority has started investigations against Facebook for violations of competition law. The proceedings are about whether the online giant violates EU law with its classified ad service Facebook Marketplace. This was announced by the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Via the marketplace, users of the social network can privately buy and sell goods from one another. According to its own information, the EU Commission wants to clarify whether Facebook is exploiting its position in other markets for this service in an anti-competitive manner. If competing companies advertised their services on the largest social network, Facebook could gain possession of economically valuable data and then use it against competitors, is the suspicion. Facebook considers the procedure to be unfounded. "We will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation to show that it is groundless," said the US company. The allegations only said: "We are always developing new and better services to meet the evolving demand of the people who use Facebook. Marketplace and dating offer people more choice and both products work in a very competitive environment with many great ones Sellers. " The EU Commission nevertheless sees reason for an intensive examination. "Facebook is used by nearly three billion people every month and has a combined total of nearly seven million advertisers," Vestager said. The company collects huge amounts of data about the activities of users of its social network and other services and is therefore able to target specific customer groups. For example, Facebook could derive precise information about user preferences from the advertising activities of its competitors. The British competition authority has also started investigations independently of the EU. Facebook is the last major US tech company to be scrutinized by Vestager. There have already been proceedings against Google, Apple and Amazon. The Facebook marketplace business, which opened in 2016, now has 800 million users in 70 countries who buy and sell goods via the platform. According to insiders, classifieds providers have complained that Facebook is using its market power to gain competitive advantage.