(Clarifies paragraph 2)

PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) - The French competition

authority said on Wednesday it had informed Meta Platforms ( META )

that the Facebook owner was accused of abusing its

dominant position in the online advertising sector.

"(...) An objection has been notified to (...) Meta," the

authority said in a statement, adding this investigation, likely

to last several months, was ongoing and that the it does not

mean the company will be found liable.

A spokesperson for the competition authority told Reuters

that the procedure has been triggered by a complaint filed in

October 2022 of Adloox, an advertising platform, which has since

been bought by private U.S. company Scope3.

In April, French media companies, including TF1,

France TV and BFM TV, said they were suing Meta over what they

say are unlawful business practices.

The company will also face trial this October in Spain over a

551 million euro ($645.06 million) complaint lodged by more than

80 media companies accusing it of unfair competition in

advertising.

In February online, rights campaigners filed complaints in

Europe over Meta's advertising practices, while earlier on

Wednesday, EU antitrust regulators fined Meta, as well as Apple ( AAPL )

for what they said were breaches of EU law.

($1 = 0.8542 euros)