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The European Union fined Apple and Meta a combined $800 million on Wednesday for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a 2022 landmark European antitrust law that addresses anticompetitive practices in the tech industry.
Apple and Meta (META), charged €500 million ($570 million) and €200 million ($230 million), respectively, were found liable for failing to give “consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data,” the European Commission said.
The Commission added that “the two decisions come after extensive dialogue with the companies concerned allowing them to present in detail their views and arguments.”
Under the DMA, both Apple (AAPL) and Meta are classified as “gatekeepers” because they can single-handedly set the rules for businesses and users alike.
Apple, according to the Commission, didn’t comply with a regulation that “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.”
Meta, meanwhile, was dinged for creating a “consent or pay” advertising model that made users fork over cash if they didn’t want their data to be used for personalized ads.
Apple and Meta are required to pay the fines within 60 days or face further penalties.
“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,” Teresa Ribera, the EU vice president for clean, just, and competitive transition, said in the Commission’s press release. “It protects European consumers and levels the playing field.”
Meta and Apple did not immediately return requests for comment.
In a statement, Meta chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan said the Commission is “attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”
Meta said it will likely appeal the decision.
Apple said it will also appeal, saying, “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. ... Despite countless meetings, the commission continues to move the goal posts every step of the way.”
The White House has been notably upset about the continuing European crackdown on American Big Tech companies, with President Donald Trump issuing a directive threatening to impose tariffs on Europe to defend these companies from what he believes are “overseas extortion and unfair fines and penalties.”
—Ece Yildirim contributed to this article.