Meta Hit With French Complaint, Italian Probe in EU Antitrust Push

France’s Autorité de la concurrence said on 9 July it had issued a formal statement of objections to Meta Platforms, accusing the company of abusing its dominant position in the online-advertising market. The regulator alleges Meta limited access to partnerships for advertising-verification services on terms that were not transparent, objective or non-discriminatory. The move opens a full adversarial procedure and, if wrongdoing is confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue. Less than three weeks later, Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) opened its own investigation, saying Meta may have violated European Union competition rules by integrating the company’s Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without first obtaining user consent. The watchdog, which is working with the European Commission, argues the pre-installation could unfairly steer WhatsApp’s user base toward Meta’s new AI service and shut out competitors. Officials carried out inspections at Meta’s Italian offices; the case carries the same maximum penalty of 10% of global turnover. Meta said it is cooperating with both regulators. Regarding Italy, the company argued that offering free AI features in WhatsApp benefits millions of users who ‘already know, trust and understand’ the messaging platform. The twin actions deepen Brussels-area scrutiny of the social-media giant, which has faced a string of EU investigations and fines over privacy, advertising and competition practices.