The European Union (EU) has fined heavyweight tech companies, Apple and Meta with €500 million and €200 million penalties, respectively.
Delivering its first major fines under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), reports have confirmed that the sanctions mark a new era in Europe’s crackdown on Big Tech dominance.
The European Union has said Meta’s pay-or-consent model launched in November 2023 directly breaches the DMA. The union believes a model that gives its users who consent to be tracked a free service funded by ad revenues, and another option of an ad-free service, cannot be tolerated.
The EU competition watchdog also warned that Apple must get rid of technical and commercial limitations that prevent application developers from directing users to less costly deals outside of the App Store. Apple has been given only 2 months to effect appropriate changes or they’ll be made to pay fines on a daily basis.
Accusing the European Commission of unfair treatment, tech heavyweight Apple responded by saying such decisions are terrible for privacy, security of users, and products, because they try to compel companies to give out their technology at zero cost.
Apple insists that the EU is simply targeting successful U.S. companies in an unfair manner while allowing European and Chinese firms to get away with a lot of things under different rules.
In what could lead to a full-blown tech-trade crisis if the fines are implemented, Meta has also accused the ruling, saying tech firms shouldn’t be forced to ditch their business models.
Apple was able to avoid further fines after a different investigation revealed that the iPhone manufacturer made changes that allow users to seamlessly switch to a rival browser or search engine. Regulators confirmed that such moderations do not breach the DMA, hence, investigations had to be closed.
