EU and UK open antitrust investigations into Facebook Marketplace

The European Commission and UK regulators have opened antitrust investigations into Facebook over concerns its Marketplace service is unfairly distorting competition for classified ads. Both are interested in whether or not Facebook unfairly used advertising data to compete in the classified ads market, and are collaborating as part of the investigation.

“Facebook collects vast troves of data on the activities of users of its social network and beyond, enabling it to target specific customer groups,” the European Commission’s competition head Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. “We will look in detail at whether this data gives Facebook an undue competitive advantage in particular on the online classified ads sector, where people buy...

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