EU antitrust regulators have imposed the first penalties under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech, with Apple fined \u20ac500 million and Meta \u20ac200 million on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The EU fines could escalate tensions with US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs against countries that penalize US companies. Indeed, the White House described the fines as “a new form of economic extortion” that the US would not tolerate.<\/p>\n
The fines follow a year-long investigation by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, into whether the companies comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to allow smaller rivals to enter markets dominated by the largest companies.<\/p>\n
The penalties show the EU is determined to enforce the new rules, which came into effect in 2023. Trump had referenced the DMA in February when he vowed to “protect American companies and innovators from overseas blackmail.”<\/p>\n
Google and Elon Musk’s X also face potential penalties from European regulators.<\/p>\n
Commission sources say the EU will be emboldened by a US court ruling earlier this month that found Google illegally dominated two markets for its online advertising technology. That decision could pave the way for US antitrust prosecutors to break up Google’s ad products.<\/p>\n
Apple said it would appeal the EU fine. In an emailed statement, the company said, “Today’s announcements are another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple with a series of decisions that are bad for our users’ privacy and security, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free.”<\/p>\n
Meta also criticized the EU decision. In an emailed statement, the company’s Director of Global Affairs, Joel Kaplan, claimed, “The European Commission is trying to hobble successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”<\/p>\n
Meta suggested that this was not just a fine; the Commission was forcing Meta “to change its business model” and demanding it offer a lower-quality service.<\/p>\n
The fines are modest compared to those imposed by the previous EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, during her tenure.<\/p>\n
Sources who spoke to Reuters<\/em> on condition of anonymity said this was because the violations were short-lived, the focus was on compliance rather than penalties, and there was a desire to avoid potential retaliation from Trump.<\/p>\n The EU competition authority said Apple must remove technical and commercial restrictions that prevent app developers from directing users to cheaper deals outside the App Store<\/em>.<\/p>\n Meta’s “pay or consent” model, introduced in November 2023, is alleged to have violated the DMA during the period until November 2024, when it was modified to use less personal data for targeted advertising.<\/p>\n The model offers a free service financed by advertising revenue to Facebook and Instagram users who agree to be tracked. Alternatively, they can pay for an ad-free service.<\/p>\n Meta is discussing the new version, introduced in November last year, with the EU to see if it complies with the DMA. Companies have two months to comply with the orders or face daily fines.<\/p>\n Apple avoided a fine in a separate investigation into browser options on iPhones after making changes that allow users to switch more easily to a rival browser or search engine. Regulators said these were compliant with the DMA and closed the investigation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The iPhone maker is still accused of violating DMA rules for preventing users from sideloading, a practice that involves downloading alternative app stores and apps from the web.<\/p>\n Regulators criticized Apple’s terms, which include a new fee called the Core Technology Fee, saying they are a deterrent for developers to use alternative app distribution channels on the iOS mobile operating system.<\/p>\n The EU regulatory body also canceled the designation of “Meta’s Marketplace” as a DMA gatekeeper because its user numbers fell below the required threshold.<\/p>\n EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said, “We have imposed strict but balanced penalties against both companies based on clear and predictable rules. All companies operating in the EU must comply with our laws and respect European values.”<\/p>\n EU lawmaker Andreas Schwab urged the Commission to pursue its investigations against Google’s profitable ad tech business and Elon Musk’s X and not to delay decisions.<\/p>\n “There can be no flexibility in enforcement, as it could also affect the overall importance of competition policy,” Schwab said, adding that a decision perceived as linked to trade policy issues was “dangerous for the entire European Union structure.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EU antitrust regulators have imposed the first penalties under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech, with Apple fined \u20ac500 million and Meta \u20ac200 million on Wednesday. The EU fines could escalate tensions with US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs against countries that penalize US companies. Indeed, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1995,1815,9468,4974,9465,319,610,9467,2518,8700,1816,9466],"class_list":["post-9183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-apple","tag-big-tech","tag-competition-policy","tag-digital-markets-act","tag-dma","tag-donald-trump","tag-eu","tag-eu-antitrust","tag-european-commission","tag-fine","tag-meta","tag-regulation"],"yoast_head":"\n