Berlin-German Cartel Office is a classification that Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is “most important to competition between markets” and gives regulators room to curb market dominance of digital companies. Said.
Under a law introduced by German lawmakers in early 2021, cartel offices can ban what they consider to be anti-competitive activities.
The cartel office said in a statement Wednesday that Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, operates a powerful ad-backed social media ecosystem that continues to grow and is used by most of Germany’s population. Said that.
He said the new classification would form the basis for a quicker conclusion of the ongoing antitrust procedure against Meta.
In 2019, the Cartel Office said the world’s largest social network exploited its market advantage to collect user information without the user’s consent and ordered the company to curb data collection. Meta, then called Facebook, challenged the decision and the issue is still pending in court.
The Cartel Office also launched an abuse procedure against Meta related to links between Oculus virtual reality products and social media networks in 2020.
“Without sharing the reasons that led to the Federal Cartel Agency’s decision, we continue to focus on providing German users with the best possible experience to comply with all laws and regulations.” Said a Meta spokesman, Reuters.
By Riham Alkousaa, Nadine Schimroszik, and Rachel More
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