Florence Competition Programme : advanced competition seminar : the Facebook case

Abstract

On 15th December 2018, the Florence Competition Programme (FCP) organized its second advanced competition seminar in the context of the FCP Annual Training, 2018/2019 edition. The seminar focused on the high-profile Facebook case, recently decided by the Bundeskartellamt (German Competition Authority) on 7th February 2019. The Bundeskartellamt decided that Facebook had abused its dominant position via the collection and use of personal data from third-party sources. During the advanced competition seminar, the discussion focused on the Bundeskartellamt investigations. Although the investigations were still open when the seminar was held in Florence, participants debated the preliminary assessment that was released by the Bundeskartellamt on 19th December 2017. The latter document listed the alleged abuses of dominance by Facebook, by thus anticipating the grounds mentioned in the final decision adopted in February 2019.