Facebook is facing two separate antitrust investigations by European regulators, which will investigate whether the social network's use of data gives it an unfair advantage in online advertising.
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The investigations could ultimately lead to large fines and increase pressure on Facebook to make changes to its business model, which is already the focus of a lawsuit brought by the US.
said is assessing whether Facebook violated EU competition rules by using data collected from advertisers on its platform.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has launched several investigations into US technology companies, said that data collected through social networks “should not be used in ways that distort competition.”
“We will examine in detail whether this data gives Facebook an unfair competitive advantage, particularly in the field of online classified advertising, where people buy and sell goods every day and where Facebook also competes with companies from which it collects data“.
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Facebook could, for example, use information about users' preferences derived from advertisers' activity to tailor its own classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, according to the Commission, which in December proposed legislation that would give regulators sweeping new powers.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is also investigating whether Facebook's use of data gave it "an unfair advantage over competitors in the provision of online classified advertising and online dating services".
“The CMA will examine whether Facebook has used data obtained from ads and simple login to benefit its own services, in particular Facebook Marketplace … and Facebook Dating,” it said in a statement on Friday. Facebook Marketplace allows users and businesses to sell new and used items such as clothes, books and furniture.
This is the third investigation into suspected antitrust violations by US tech giants that the CMA has recently opened, with the other two being Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL).
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A Facebook (FB) spokesperson said the company would fully cooperate with the investigations “to prove them wrong.”
"We're always developing new and better services to meet the evolving demand from people who use Facebook. Marketplace and Dating offer people more choices, and both products operate in a very competitive environment with many big players," the spokesperson added.
