The European Commission on Tuesday hit Apple with a 500 million euros ($570 million) fine and and Meta with a 200 million euros ($230 million) fine for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This marks the first time penalties have been issued under the new European Union tech regulations.
Apple had been found to restrict app developers form informing users about payment options outside of the App Store. The Commission determined that Apple had blocked developers from taking full advantage of distribution options outside of the Apple ecosystem, limiting cheaper options for consumers.
“App developers distributing their apps via Apple’s App Store should be able to inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases,” the European Commission stated.
The Commission had ordered Apple to “remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering” and to refrain from continuing the non-compliant conduct in the future.
Also on Tuesday, the Commisison closed its investigation into Apple’s restricting user choice of apps, thanks to “early and proactive engagement by Apple” on complying. Users now have more options to delete preinstalled apps on iPhones.
Meta was hit with its 200 million euros fine due to its “consent or pay” model, which it implemented in November 2023, forcing European users to either consent to personal data collection for targeted advertising or fork out a monthly subscription fee for an ad-free experience on both Facebook and Instagram.
Meta’s approach failed to provide a legitimate choice to protect their personal data, as required by the DMA. Meta has since modified its advetising model and the Commission is currently evaluating it.
Both companies have been ordered to comply with the Commission’s decisions within 60 days or face additional periodic penalty payments.
Apple says it will appeal the decision, calling it “another example of the commission unfairly targeting the company” and that it is “bad for the privacy and security of our users.”
Meta also indicated it would likely appeal.
