EU, UK launch antitrust probes into Facebook's use of advertising data

Investigations will focus on social media group's use of customer data

Facebook is facing its first in-depth probe by European regulators, the latest in a series of efforts to crack down on big tech market dominance across the continent.
 
The European Commission said it will investigate whether Facebook misuses a trove of data gathered from advertisers to compete against them in classified ads. It will also check if the company unfairly ties its Marketplace small ad service to the social network. At the same time, the UK said it was opening probes into Facebook’s Mark­etplace and Dating services hours after Germany’s antitrust watchdog announced a case targeting the Google News Showcase product.

 
The cases open up yet another front for the world’s biggest tech firms to fight on, as regulators investigate their market power during a pandemic when online commerce and advertising has become far more important to people working from home. Germany is already investigating Facebook and Amazon.com while France is examining advertising practices by Google and Apple.
 

Opening a formal probe means regulators can start building firm evidence of antitrust violations, a process that can lead to a charge sheet, or statement of objections, and may eventually culminate in hefty fines or an order to change the way a business operates. Friday’s move by the EU is the first time it’s escalated a case into Facebook’s behaviour beyond the preliminary stages. It follows other high-profile cases targeting Google, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc. The EU previously fined Facebook for failing to provide correct information in the merger review of the WhatsApp takeover.

 
“Facebook collects vast troves of data on the activities of users of its social network and beyond,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief.