Europe Imposes $797m Fine On Apple, Meta
The European Union has fined tech platforms Apple and Meta a combined $797m for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In its first enforcement action under the Act, the EU seeks to allow smaller rivals into markets dominated by the biggest companies.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, announced Wednesday that it has imposed a $570m fine on Apple and a $228m penalty on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The Commission said both companies must pay the fine within two months or face additional financial penalties.
The penalties come amid rising tensions between the EU and the United States, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration accusing the bloc of unfairly targeting successful American tech companies.
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, sharply criticised the decision, claiming it effectively imposes a “multi-billion-dollar tariff” on the company and forces it to offer “an inferior service”.
However, the Commission’s investigation found that Meta violated the DMA by implementing a “consent or pay” model introduced in late 2023.
The model required European users to either accept extensive personal data processing for personalised ads or pay to use ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram.
A subsequent model, launched a year later, purportedly uses less personal data but is still under review by EU regulators.
Apple was found to have breached the DMA’s provision by limiting developers’ ability to inform users about alternative payment options outside the App Store. The Commission stated that Apple’s restrictions prevented consumers from accessing potentially cheaper offers.
In response, Apple labelled the fine as another example of what it considers unfair targeting by EU regulators.
“We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for,” said a company spokesperson, vowing to appeal the decision.
The European Commission emphasised that the size of the fines reflects the seriousness and duration of the violations.
Europe Imposes $797m Fine On Apple, Meta is first published on The Whistler Newspaper