On June 5th, the Italian antitrust agency Competition Management (AGCM) announced on its official website that due to unfair business practices, AGCM has imposed a fine of 3.5 million euros (approximately 27.58 million yuan) on Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta.
Currently, Meta has not responded to this.
AGCM investigation found that during the user registration process on Instagram, Meta did not provide clear information regarding the use of user personal data for commercial purposes, which violates Articles 20, 21, and 22 of the Italian Consumer Law.
In addition, when the user's Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended, Meta did not provide any useful communication to resolve potential complaints, which violated Article 20 of the Italian Consumer Law.
The official announcement specifically mentioned that Meta failed to specify whether it decided to suspend Facebook accounts through automated or manual review; We also failed to provide information to Facebook and Instagram users on whether they can raise objections to account suspension, such as contacting out of court dispute resolution agencies or judges. Finally, Meta has only set aside a very short deadline of 30 days for complainants.
AGCM stated that Meta has ceased these two practices during the litigation process.
It is worth mentioning that Meta is also facing another antitrust investigation in Italy. In April 2023, AGCM announced an antitrust investigation against Meta for potentially abusing its market position in music copyright negotiations and potentially damaging competition in the industry.
This survey also involves the Italian Writers and Publishers Association (SIAE). In March 2023, Meta was unable to reach an agreement to renew the copyright license with SIAE, resulting in all SIAE related songs being blocked by Meta related websites starting from March 16 of that year.
In response, AGCM stated in a statement that Mark Zuckerberg's company may have "inappropriately interrupted negotiations regarding the license agreement to use SIAE music copyrights on its platform.".
Comprehensive/Compiled by: Huang Liling, a journalist from Southern Metropolis Daily