Preliminary findings of European Commission (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Brussels , 01 Jul - The European Commission said it has informed Meta, the parent company of Facebook, of its preliminary findings that its "pay or consent" advertising model fails to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

In particular, the European Commission said that Meta's models doesn't allow users to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the 'personalised ads' based service. It also doesn't allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data, it said.

By sending preliminary findings, the commission said it is informing Meta of its perliminary view that the company is in breach of the DMA. Meta may now exercise its rights of defence by examining the documents in the commission's investigation file and replying in writing to its preliminary findings.

The European Commission said will conclude its investigation within 12 months from the opening of proceedings on March 25, 2024.

In the event it finds Meta did not comply with the DMA, the commission noted can impose fines up to 10% of the gatekeeper's total worldwide turnover. Such fines can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringement. In the event of systematic non-compliance, the commission added that it can adopt additional remedies such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it or banning the gatekeeper from acquisitions of additional services related to the systemic non-compliance.

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(RADIOCOR) 01-07-24 14:28:15 (0391) 5 NNNN