Apple and Meta Must Pay High Fines from the European Commission. The Companies Have Not Complied With New European Legislet for Large Tech Companies. Apple Must Therefore Pay 500 Million Euros, Meta 200 Million euros.
The Two American Tech Companies Violated the So-Called Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is intended to prevent Large Internet Companies from Becoming Too Powerful. Accordance to the law, consumers should also have more say about services they use.
Apple Receives The Highest Fine. Accordance to the European Commission, The Company is Still Too Obstructive to Developers. Developers Who Publish Their Apps via Apple’s App Store Must Be Able To Inform Their Customers Free of Charge About Offers That Take Place Outside The App Store. But That Obligation was insufficiently Complied with by Apple, The Commission Judges After Investigation.
In A Response to Nu.nl, Apple Says It Will Appeal Against the Fine. The Company Calls This Ruling “Yet Another Example of the Fact That The European Commission is Treating Apple Unfairly”.
A Spokesperson Says That The Tech Giant Has Made Many Adjustments to Comply With The Law. “But with every step we take, the commission shifts the goalposts.”
No Real Choice with Meta Apps
In The Case of Meta, The Fine was imposed because of a subscription model. On Instagram and Facebook, users have leg able to pay for an ad-free service since the end of 2023. The other option was to use the apps for free, altheoth users then provid data to meta in Exchange for for personalized advertisements.
Accordance to the commission, that option was not Enough, because it was not given the choice to not provide any personal information in Exchange for Free Use.
At the end of last year, meta released a new subscription model after consultation with the European Commission, with an option that would process less personal data. This Option is Currently Being Assessed by the Commission, But That Assessment Has No Effect On The Fine. IT CONCERNS THE PERIOD BEFORE THE ADJUSTMENT.
Meta Says That The European Commission is Tryping to Weaven Successful American Companies, “While Chinese and European Companies Are Allowed to Operate Under Different Conditions.”
‘Companies deprived Citizens of Free Choice’
EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera (Competition) Says That Today’s Ruling Sends A Strong and Clear Message. “The DMA is an important instrument to Enforce A Level Playing Field in the Digital Market,” She Says. “All Companions Operating In The EU Must Comply With Our Rules.”
Euro Commissioner Henna Virkkunen (Technology, Security and Democracy) Says That Apple and Meta Have Deprived Their Users of the Choice to Make Decisions Freely ABout the Use of Their Services. “That is why they must change their behavior. We have a duty to protect the rights of citizens and companies in Europe, and I fully support that.”
Apple and Meta Have Two Months to Pay the Fine and Make Adjustments So That They Do Coming With The Rules. If that does not succeed within sixty days, Europe can impose penalty payments.