The European Commission on Wednesday fined tech giants Apple and Meta for non-complying with the Digital Market Act (DMA) on Wednesday, at risk of aggravating the current trade tensions with the US.
The fines were at the lower end of the scale the Commission could levy however and the executive has also closed two cases targeting the same companies.
The Commission fined Apple €500 million after finding it was preventing developers from freely communicating with consumers and steering them to alternative channels for offers and content.
The executive fined Meta €200 million claiming its “pay or consent” advertising model doesn’t comply with the DMA as it implies a binary choice that forces users to consent to give their personal data to target advertising unless they pay a subscription.
These fines are relatively low, considering EU legislation provides for fines of up to 10% of annual turnover for breaches of the DMA. But according to an official, “gravity, duration and recurrence” of the violation were taken into account and, since the DMA is relatively new legislation, the duration criteria did not apply.
The Commission also closed two cases: one probe into Apple for failing to allow changes of browser choice screens for users; a second following the executive’s decision that Facebook Marketplace was not a core platform service falling under the DMA.
“Today’s decisions send a strong and clear message. The Digital Markets Act is a crucial instrument to unlock potential, choice and growth by ensuring digital players can operate in contestable and fair markets. It protects European consumers and levels the playing field,” EU competition commissioner Teresa Ribera said Wednesday in a statement, adding: “Apple and Meta have fallen short of compliance with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms.”
Apple announced it was going to lodge an appeal. “Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free,” an Apple representative commented.
Meta has been contacted for comment.
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