EU Commission Fines Apple, Meta €700 Million for Breaching Digital Markets Act
The European Commission has found that Apple and Meta violated the requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and fined them €700 million.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to the European Commission's statement.
As a result of the DMA violation, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million.
As noted in the statement, according to the DMA, application developers who distribute their products through the App Store have the right to inform users about alternative offers outside the store for free, direct them to these offers and provide the opportunity to make purchases outside the Apple ecosystem.
However, as the European Commission found, Apple imposes a number of restrictions that prevent developers and consumers from taking full advantage of alternative distribution channels or cheaper offers.
It is argued that Apple has failed to prove that such restrictions are objectively necessary and proportionate.
As a result, the European Commission ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions that prevent the implementation of mechanisms for free information of users and to refrain from similar actions in the future.
With regard to Meta, the DMA requires large online platforms to obtain user consent to combine personal data from different services.
If the user does not agree, they must be provided with an alternative version of the service that uses less personal data but remains functionally equivalent.
At the same time, in November 2023, Meta introduced an ‘opt-in or opt-out’ model, under which users could either opt-in to personalised advertising or pay a monthly subscription for an ad-free version.
The European Commission concluded that this model did not comply with the DMA, as it did not give users a real choice.
In November 2024, Meta introduced a new model that supposedly uses less data. However, the 23 April ruling applies to the period from March to November 2024, when users in the EU were only offered a ‘pay or opt-in’ choice.
In addition, the European Commission decided to stop considering Facebook Marketplace a platform subject to the DMA, as it had less than 10,000 business users in 2024.
The statement emphasised that Apple and Meta must comply with the European Commission's decision within 60 days, otherwise they face periodic fines.
In late March, it was reported that the EU plans to impose minimal fines on Apple and Facebook owner Meta under the DMA as Brussels seeks to avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump.
Recently, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned major tech companies - including X, Meta, Apple and TikTok - that the EU is ready to fully enforce its digital laws regardless of who runs these firms or where they are based.
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