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Facebook May Face New Antitrust Probe In UK

By  |  March 19, 2021

Britain’s competition regulator is set to begin an antitrust investigation into Facebook in the next few months, after similar actions into Google and Apple early this year, the Financial Times reported on Friday, March 19.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would look into the way Facebook allegedly uses customer data against rivals in social media and online advertising, people close to the matter told FT.

The investigation is also likely to examine Facebook’s status as a so-called gatekeeper for its ability to collect data from users to boost its advantage over rivals.

A person close to the CMA said the probe would draw on the regulator’s report on digital advertising, which highlighted the “strong incumbency advantage” Facebook benefited from in areas such as online ads and social media.

The timing of the official announcement of the probe and the exact concerns could still shift, these people warned. But legal experts said Facebook had so far escaped the intense scrutiny its rivals were facing in the UK, so there would be a strong appetite among regulators to pursue a case.

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