The European Union (EU) has levied huge fines against American tech giants Apple and Meta, marking the first enforcement actions under its newly enacted Digital Markets Act.
The landmark move signals a tougher stance on big tech’s dominance in the digital economy. Apple was fined €500 million ($570 million) for preventing app developers from directing users to cheaper purchasing options outside its App Store ecosystem.
Meta received a €200 million ($226 million) penalty for requiring Instagram and Facebook users to choose between seeing targeted ads or paying to avoid them—a practice the EU deemed coercive and in violation of user choice.
The Digital Markets Act, which came into effect earlier this year, aims to increase consumer choice and level the playing field in the EU’s digital economy by curbing the market power of so-called “gatekeeper” companies.
Google's violation of EU digital rules can lead to fines of up to 10 percent of the company's turnover.
The fines, which were initially expected in March, were reportedly delayed due to escalating trade tensions with the US under President Donald Trump. Despite the delay, Brussels has pushed ahead, sending a clear message about its commitment to digital regulation.
Apple criticised the decision, accusing the EU of “unfairly targeting” the company. "We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law,” the iPhone maker said in a statement.
Meta also pushed back, with Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan claiming the EU is “attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards”.
The fines are likely to heighten tensions between the EU and Silicon Valley, as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic grapple with how to rein in the power of the world’s largest tech firms.
