By Mark Scott BRUSSELS: Facebook became the latest US technology company to face antitrust hurdles in Europe after the German competition authority opened an investigation on Wednesday into whether the company has abused its dominant position in social networking. The move puts Facebook, which is used by many of Europe’s 500 million citizens, alongside other US technology companies, like Google and Microsoft, which have also faced lengthy antitrust investigations into their activities across the region. European officials have taken a tough stance on how US tech giants operate across the 28-member bloc, as many politicians here remain concerned that these companies often dominate many aspects of people’s digital lives, including social networking, online search and e-commerce. As part of the new investigation, German authorities said they were looking into whether Facebook misused its position to collect people’s digital information. That included complicated terms and conditions that individuals had to sign to use the social network, and whether such contracts placed unfair constraints on the company’s users. “Dominant companies are subject to special obligations,” Andreas Mundt, president of the German competition authority, said in a statement on Wednesday. “For advertising-financed Internet services such as Facebook, user data are hugely important.” In response, Facebook said it was confident that it had complied with German law. “We look forward to working with the Federal Cartel Office to answer their questions,” the company said in a statement. German authorities have long battled with Facebook and other U.S. digital companies over their differing interpretations of what constitutes a violation of privacy in the digital age. Five years ago, German authorities challenged Facebook over its introduction of facial-recognition software. Facebook held discussions with European antitrust officials over its acquisition of the WhatsApp messaging service in 2014, but the German investigation is the first competition inquiry the company has faced in the region. While the German investigation will look into Facebook’s digital practices, it remains unclear whether other European policymakers — including at the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union — will also open antitrust inquiries into the social network.