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Under legislation introduced by German lawmakers in early 2021,
the cartel office can ban what it deems to be anti-competitive
activities.
Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, operates a strong,
ad-supported social media ecosystem that continues to expand and
is used by a large portion of the population in Germany, the
cartel office said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said the new classification would form the basis for a more
rapid conclusion of ongoing antitrust proceedings against Meta.
In 2019, the cartel office ordered the company to curb its data
collection, saying the world's largest social network had abused
its market dominance to harvest the information of its users
without their consent. Meta, then called Facebook, appealed the
decision, and the matter is still pending in court.
The cartel office also initiated abuse proceedings against Meta
in 2020 related to the links between its Oculus virtual reality
products and the social media network.
A spokesperson for Meta said on Wednesday that the U.S.-based
company would comply with the cartel office's decision on the
classification.
"Even if we do not share the reasoning that has led to the
Federal Cartel Office's decision, we will continue to
concentrate on providing our users in Germany with the best
possible experience in keeping with all the laws and
regulations," a spokesperson for Meta told Reuters.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Nadine Schimroszik and Rachel
MoreEditing by Maria Sheahan)
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