PANews reported on September 18 that Meta Platforms (META.O) is facing a huge EU fine for allegedly monopolizing the classified advertising market as Brussels cracks down on anti-competitive behavior by large global technology companies, according to the Financial Times. People familiar with the matter said that EU regulators will accuse Facebook's parent company Meta of linking its free market service with the social network to weaken its competitors. Three senior people with direct knowledge of the matter said that the EU may make a decision as early as next month, which will be one of the last investigations chaired by Vestager, the outgoing EU competition chief. Meta declined to comment, but pointed to an earlier statement saying: "The European Commission's allegations are groundless. We will continue to work with regulators to prove that our product innovations are beneficial to consumers and competition." If the tech giant is found guilty, it may face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue, which is close to $135 billion in 2023. However, regulators usually issue much lower penalties.
