The German cartel office is worried about Meta’s monopoly on the VR market, and Meta has responded to those concerns by announcing that VR headsets can be used even without a Facebook account.
Germany’s Joint Enterprise Authority has been trying to curb the market influence of digital companies, and Meta is a key target, having said in May that Meta has a significant influence on cross-market competition.
In a statement, the authority said Meta will allow users to use the VR device through a separate Meta account.
Andreas Mundt, chairman of the Authority, has noted on social media that “if only Facebook or Instagram members can use VR headsets, then competition in two areas (i.e. VR and social media) will be hurt.” Meta is the dominant player in both the social media market and the growing VR market.
While Meta allows users to log in through their Meta accounts, the German Joint Enterprise Authority will remain vigilant and will closely monitor the design of user options and the aggregation and processing of Meta user data in the future.
