EU Apple fines and $ 800 million metal in the first use of digital competition law

European Union regulators said on Wednesday that Apple and Meta were the first companies to be penalized for violating a new law intended to increase competition in the digital economy, the last in a series of regulatory setbacks for technology giants.

Apple was sentenced to a fine of 500 million euros ($ 570 million) and Meta was sentenced to a fine of 200 million euros ($ 230 million) for breaking the law, the Digital Markets Act, which was adopted in 2022. European law aims to prevent large technological companies from abusing their digital guards who can unilaterally and businesses.

Apple has violated the law on digital markets by limiting the way in which application developers could communicate with customers on sales and other offers, according to the European Commission, the executive power of the 27 countries. Meta has violated the law by imposing a “consent or remuneration” system which obliges users to allow their personal data to be used to target advertisements, or pay for subscription fees for versions without advertising of Facebook and Instagram.

Even if the United States and the European Union are turning to trade, prices and the war in Ukraine, the penalties have shown a consensus on both sides of the Atlantic on the fight against the power of the largest technological companies in the world. Technological giants have raised billions of dollars in market value as owners of essential products and services for communication, commerce, information and other areas.

In the United States, Google has undergone two major antitrust defeats in the past year to abuse its power in internet research and digital advertising. Meta is tried in Washington for accusations that he crushed competition through acquisitions. Amazon and Apple are also faced with antitrust proceedings.

We do not know how the Trump administration will react to the decisions of the European Union against Apple and Meta. In February, the White House published a service note saying that it would consider reprisals if the European Union targeted American technological companies under the law on digital markets or the law on digital services, a law on the reduction of illicit online content and disinformation.