Apple and Meta were fined 'lightly' nearly 800 million USD

Apple, Meta fined for violating antitrust regulations in Europe. Photo: ShutterStock .

Tech giants Apple and Meta have been hit with relatively modest fines totaling €700 million ($798 million) from the European Union (EU) for violating new antitrust rules imposed on Big Tech companies, following warnings of strong retaliation from US President Donald Trump.

EU regulators have imposed fines of €500 million on Apple and €200 million on Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a set of rules that includes a list of dos and don'ts for Silicon Valley giants.

The fine is significantly lower than previous penalties imposed under traditional EU competition law, and experts say it is a move to ease tensions between the EU and President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump has recently announced a series of tariffs targeting global economies, and has specifically criticised EU technology regulations as a “trade barrier” that his “reciprocal tariffs” policy aims to target.

Mr. Trump has recently publicly criticized EU technology regulations. Photo: Sputnik.

The European Commission (EC) accused Apple of preventing app developers from linking from its App Store to external sales platforms.

Similarly, Meta’s ad-free service business model on Instagram and Facebook was also judged by the EC to violate technology law, giving the regulator the power to impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s annual global turnover.

“Apple and Meta have failed to meet the requirements that all companies operating in the EU must comply with our laws and respect European values,” said Teresa Ribera, head of the EU’s antitrust authority.

These are the first penalties imposed under the DMA. Both companies must comply with the EU decision within 60 days or face the risk of further fines.

Apple has also been warned that its new fee structure for app developers – designed to comply with EU regulations – falls short of the requirements of the bloc’s Big Tech rules.

Apple has reacted angrily to the EU fine, accusing the bloc’s regulators of discriminating against the company. It has also said it will appeal the fine to an EU court. In 2024 alone, the company was fined €1.8 billion (more than $2 billion) by the EU for blocking rivals from streaming music on the iPhone.

Meta also responded, saying the EU “is trying to make it difficult for American businesses to succeed while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”

However, Apple also recorded a positive development when EU supervisors closed the investigation into the iPhone browser monopoly after the company allowed more browser options for users.

In a separate move, EU regulators also decided not to target Facebook Marketplace under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Meta was previously fined €798 million ($919 million) for allegedly abusing the service last year under conventional antitrust law.

In recent years, the EU has imposed heavy fines on many companies, including a more than $8 billion fine on Google and a separate order forcing Apple to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland.

Under antitrust rules, the EU has also forced changes to Amazon's e-commerce platform, and is investigating Microsoft's Teams video conferencing software.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-va-meta-dinh-don-phat-800-trieu-usd-post1548273.html