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Meta’s Data Limit Promise Eases UK Antitrust Fears

Meta’s Data Limit Promise Eases UK Antitrust Fears
Written by Techbot

Meta's Data Limit Promise Eases UK Antitrust Fears

The Facebook parent, Meta, has committed to limiting its use of advertising data for Facebook Marketplace. This step aims to alleviate rising antitrust concerns among UK regulators. This follows a series of other recent actions by the organization.

They include the sale of GIF platform Giphy for $53 million, complying with the divestment order from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), etc.

The central issue pertains to Meta’s utilization of data. The company usually gathers them from its core social network. This way, it optimizes the content display and recommendations in the Marketplace.

By analyzing users’ interests through their online interactions with ads on Facebook, the CMA contends that Meta has an unfair edge.

This insight allows Meta to showcase more pertinent items in users’ Marketplace feeds. It thereby disadvantages advertisers in other areas of the platform.

In June 2021, the European Commission (EC) and the CMA announced separate yet collaborative investigations into Meta’s practices.

In August, the organization confirmed a formal investigation, followed by the EC four months later. However, the CMA has indicated a willingness to abandon the case following Meta’s recent commitments.

To counter concerns, Meta has pledged to allow advertisers to prevent Facebook Marketplace from using their advertising data to boost its performance. This would be achieved by implementing new technical systems.

Furthermore, Meta has promised to train employees to avoid using advertisers’ data when developing new products for the UK market.

Despite the fact that the CMA has not explicitly accepted these commitments, it has hinted that it’s leaning toward doing so.

If approved, a monitoring trustee would be appointed to ensure Meta’s adherence to its pledges. In a recent report, Michael Grenfell, CMA’s director of enforcement, stated:

Reducing the risk of Meta unfairly exploiting the data of businesses who advertise on its platform for its own competitive advantage could help many UK businesses who advertise there. We are now consulting on these commitments, which we believe, at this stage, will address our concerns.Michael Grenfell

This announcement initiates a month-long consultation period. It will end on June 26. If the provisional findings are confirmed, this could effectively bring the investigation to a close.

Meta’s move to placate the UK’s antitrust regulators comes amidst growing concerns worldwide over the unchecked influence of big tech companies. It remains to be seen whether these measures will be sufficient to quell regulatory concerns or whether further action will be required.

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