Meta is slapped with a $839 million antitrust fine for favoring one of its own services

And if that leaves you thirsty for more musical-tech-exec action, then how about Twitch CEO Dan Clancy taking a decent shot at John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads? Or Apple software chief Craig Federighi shredding on the guitar?

Okay, none of them should quit their day job, but then there was Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who once did a convincing blues-rock thing with his band The Underthinkers. And Patreon CEO Jack Conte is half of not one but two viral video musical duos, Pomplamoose and Scary Pockets. Those are some tough acts for Z-Pain to follow. —David Meyer

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Meta hit with $839 million antitrust fine

Europe’s antitrust enforcers have fined Meta €798 million ($839 million) for tying Facebook Marketplace to Facebook itself.

The European Commission said that automatically showing the marketplace to the social network’s users massively disadvantaged other classified-ad providers.

It also said Meta had imposed “unfair trading conditions” on those other classified-ad providers when they advertise on Facebook and Instagram, allowing Meta to “use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace.”

Meta, which has never had to pay an EU antitrust fine before, will appeal. It claims there’s “no evidence of competitive harm.”

This is likely to be the parting shot from antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has relentlessly attacked Big Tech over the decade she’s held the role. A new Commission is incoming; the likely new competition chief Teresa Ribera endured a reportedly rowdy confirmation hearing this week. —DM

Social media’s fragmenting landscape

The deluge of goodbye messages from people leaving X began shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory last week. 

Daily users of X, previously known as Twitter, have declined consistently since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022. Last year, it had roughly 250 million daily active users but only 162 million on election day last week—and even that was a yearly high, according to Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm that tracks the platform.

But the public declarations about leaving, at least,…