Meta Faces New Antitrust Probe In Italy After Pulling Music

On Friday, Italy’s antitrust authority announced that it had implemented measures against Meta Platforms following allegations of abuse of power in the country. The investigation pertains to music rights.

Last month, Meta, the US company that owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, was unable to renew copyright licenses with the Italian society of authors and publishers SIAE.

Due to Meta’s conduct, all songs under SIAE’s books have been blocked on its sites since March 16. The watchdog deemed Meta’s actions as detrimental to competition in the market and instructed the company to restart negotiations with SIAE.

Read more: Italy Investigates Meta Over Abuse Of Position In Music Rights

A representative for Meta stated that the company disagreed with the measures taken by the Italian authority as a precaution, but appreciated the opportunity to continue discussions in order to reach an agreement.

It later added it would send SIAE another request to prolong its license agreement. “We believe it is important to collaborate with the music industry,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

SIAE president Salvatore Nastasi said they were ready to negotiate with Meta in the interest of Italian authors.

“We are open to an agreement to put Italian content back on Meta’s platforms and to negotiate constructively, but in compliance with the indications of the antitrust authority,” he told news agency AGI.