EU and UK Open Antitrust Probes into Facebook

   By Sam Schechner

The European Union and the U.K. have opened formal antitrust investigations into Facebook Inc.'s classified-ads service, Marketplace, ramping up regulatory scrutiny for the company in Europe.

Both the European Commission--the EU's top antitrust enforcer--and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that they are investigating whether Facebook repurposes data it gathers from advertisers who buy ads in order to give illegal advantages to its own services, including its Marketplace online flea market.

The U.K. said it is also investigating whether Facebook uses advertiser data to give similar advantages to its online-dating service.

The two competition watchdogs said they will coordinate their investigations.

Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2021 06:08 ET (10:08 GMT)

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