Apple and Meta fined 200 million euros by the EU

On the 23rd local time, the European Commission said that due to violations of the Digital Markets Act, EU regulators fined Apple 500 million euros and Meta, the parent company of the American social media platforms Facebook and Photo Wall, 200 million euros. These two fines are the first fines issued since the implementation of the Digital Markets Act.

The statement said that Apple restricted app developers from guiding users to use third-party channels in its app store, depriving users of the right to obtain alternative preferential services. Apple failed to prove that the relevant restrictions were necessary, and the EU required it to immediately lift the relevant restrictions and not to take similar measures.

The statement also pointed out that the Metaverse Platform Company will launch the “Agree or Pay” model in the EU in 2023, requiring its social media users to either agree to integrate personal data for receiving personalized advertisements or pay a monthly fee to use the ad-free version of the service. The EU believes that this model does not meet the relevant legal requirements, so it made a penalty decision.

The statement mentioned that if Apple and the Metaverse Platform Company fail to implement rectification within 60 days, they may face further fines. This penalty is the first non-compliance determination since the EU Digital Markets Act came into effect.

Some analysts believe that this regulatory storm may exacerbate tensions between the United States and the European Union. US President Trump previously stated that the EU’s regulation of US technology giants is a “non-tariff trade barrier” and threatened to take retaliatory measures.