Meta received a fine of over $840 million on Wednesday for breaching the European Union’s antitrust rules as it relates to market domination after three years of legal proceedings. The multinational company was penalized for tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook according to the release.

Meta said it would appeal the decision by the European Union, which said the company had abused its dominance in social networking to strengthen its shopping and classified ads service.

European Union regulators hit Facebook parent Meta with a fine of nearly 800 million euros on Thursday for what it calls “abusive practices” involving its Marketplace online classified ads business.

Meta Platforms Inc. was hit with a €798 million ($841 million) fine by European Union regulators by tying its Facebook Marketplace service to the social network, the US tech giant’s first ever penalty for EU antitrust violations.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has hit Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, with a fine worth $840 million for what it classifies as an antitrust violation.

European enforcers accused the tech giant of using its popular social network to unfairly advantage its classified-ads business.

Launched in 2016, Facebook Marketplace enables users of Meta’s flagship social network to buy and sell goods. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, launched a probe into the service in 2021 over concerns it may harm competition. Today’s fine is the culmination of that probe.

The European Commission on Thursday fined Meta Platforms €797.72 million ($840.24 million) over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace, it said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.

Meta Platforms has been fined 797.72 million euros ($843.31 million) by European regulators over alleged harm to other classified marketplace providers in Europe caused by attaching its Marketplace product to Facebook,

The EU fined online giant Meta almost 800 million euros on Thursday for breaching antitrust rules by giving users of its Facebook social network automatic access to classified ads service Facebook Marketplace.