EU antitrust regulators about to charge Meta, sources say

FILE PHOTO: A man stands in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are drawing up charges against Facebook parent Meta over its use of customer data and the tying of its classified advertisements service to its social network, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named.

The European Commission, which can impose fines up to 10% of a company's global turnover for antitrust violations and Meta declined to comment.

The Commission began an investigation into the social network company in June last year. Britain's competition agency also began an enquiry on the same day.

In recent months, the Commission has asked Meta rivals to remove confidential information from their submissions to the regulator. Typically, that is the precursor to the Commission sending companies under investigation a statement of objections detailing what it sees as anti-competitive practices.

Meta's classified ads business called Facebook Marketplace was launched in 2016 and is used in 70 countries to buy and sell items.

Politico was the first to report a statement of objections is imminent.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara Lewis)