EU cracks a whip on big tech: Apple, Meta, and Google face DMA probes
- The European Commission is probing Apple, Google, and Meta for possibly violating the Digital Markets Act, focusing on practices within app stores, search engines, browser choices, and advertising models. Officials express a need for compliance to ensure Europe’s digital markets remain open and competitive.
- Investigations also target Apple’s new app distribution fees and Amazon’s product favoritism. Meta has extra time to integrate Messenger with other services. Companies face fines up to 20% of global revenue for repeat violations.
- Apple’s compliance is under scrutiny, especially its fee structure for alternative app stores on iOS, which critics say could inhibit developers from using platforms other than Apple’s App Store, potentially limiting the Digital Markets Act’s intended benefits.
The European Commission is initiating investigations into five instances of potential non-compliance by Apple, Google, and Meta under its new Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust regulations, as confirmed by the authority today.
What’s happening behind the scenes?“We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA. We will now investigate the companies’ compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe,” stated Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief.
Today we open 1st #investigations under the #DMA.
We are concerned #Alphabet, @Apple & @Meta are not meeting their obligations e.g:
