Apple and Meta were struck with the first DMA against the European Union

Apple and Meta are the first to be fined due to violations under the European Union’s digital market law (DMA). The European Commission announced today that Apple has been a penalty of 500 million euros (about 570 million dollars) after the ruling The practices of the application store “fighting mockery” Failure to comply with anti -monopoly rules DMA. Meta was fined 200 million euros (about 230 million dollars) after similar fees regarding Facebook and Instagram advertisement form “payment or approval”. The two companies were granted 60 days to comply with judgment, or face the risk of additional pumping.

“Empowering the selection of business and free consumer at the heart of the rules stipulated in the Digital Market Law. This includes ensuring fully controlling citizens in when and how their data is used online, and companies can freely communicate with their customers.” Henna says FerkconineExecutive Vice President of the European Commission for Technology, Security and Democracy. “You find the decisions adopted today that both Apple and Meta have removed this free choice of its users and asking him to change their behavior.”

DMA It became a law in May 2023, and is designed to increase competition across the digital markets within the European Union. Companies dedicated to the law as “gate guards” – Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Bytedance and Microsoft – on “Basic Basic System Services” must comply with the rules aimed at reducing anti -competition behavior. Fees can be imposed on companies by up to 10 percent of their annual global revenues for DMA violations, and up to 20 percent for frequent crimes.

Apple was charged to violate the DMA rules On the restrictions of the application store that prevented developers from promoting pricing channels or alternative distribution within their applications, or freely linking to web pages where customers can pay or subscribe to their services. in Apple says its compliance report The compliance measures I have taken to open users in the application store and developers are in a greater danger, and that “the European Commission will continue to take other measures to protect its users.”

The committee says that the size of Apple’s fine “takes into account the risk and duration of non -compliance.” The company has also been requested to remove the restrictions imposed on developers linking and promoting other payment services.

The representative of the company told “the representative of the company”: “Today’s ads are another example of the European Commission, which is not fairly targeting Apple in a series of bad decisions for the privacy and security of our users, and bad products, and forcing us to abandon our technology for free.” freedom. “We spent hundreds of thousands of engineering watches and made dozens of changes to this law, none of them were asked. Despite countless meetings, the committee continues to transfer goals in every step on the road. We will resume and continue to deal with the committee in the service of our European customers.”

Meta fees were imposed to force Facebook and Instagram users to pay either Subscription fees to remove adsOr agreeing to use their personal data for ads supported by ads from platforms. To address DMA compliance violations, Meta allowed Facebook and Instagram users within the European Union who are not paid to remove ads To see fewer “customized ads” non -resort. He said the definition in a The compliance report was published on March 6 He “continued to receive additional demands that go beyond what is written in the law” despite his efforts to comply with DMA requirements.

Joel Kaplan, chief international affairs official in Mita, says in A. statement. “This is not only a fine, the committee that forces us to change our business model actually imposes a tariff of billions of dollars to define while asking us to provide a lower service. By unrestricting personal advertisements, the European Commission also hurts me with European companies and economies.”

First compliance Investigations in Apple and Meta It was announced in March 2024, as well as plans to investigate Google’s parent company about concerns about addressing its own services more positively in search classifications compared to the services provided by third -party competitors. Like Apple, Google is also checked on “antiseptic control” practices in its application market-and this means the behavior that the platforms that are determined in the market are used to bend consumers for the use of alternative services.

The fines announced today are less than the maximum penalties of about $ 16 billion per dead and $ 39 billion for Apple on the basis of 2024 profits. Financial times It was mentioned in January The European Union was planning to alleviate its organizational practices on large technology after increasing pressure from the United States, with the new European Union Committee, which took office in December. According to what was reported to be more focused on assuming compliance From huge fines.

Apple is not alien to anti -monopoly sanctions in the European Union, It was previously fined 1.84 billion euros (about $ 2 billion) Last year on the practices of the store’s control in the application store after a claim against the monopoly submitted by Spotify-a case preceding DMA. Meta was also fined 797.7 million euros (About $ 840 million) in November last year to give itself the unique market advantages by linking Facebook and Marketplace, and 1.2 billion euros (about $ 1.3 billion) in 2023 To transfer Facebook data to European Union citizens to the United States.

These fines come with high tensions between European policy makers and US President Donald Trump, who has They became friends of the senior American technology executives That has The European Union fines are likened to their companies with some tax forms.