The European Commission on Wednesday fined Apple €500 million ($570 million) for monopolistic practices in its mobile app store, and Meta €200 million ($228 million) for its long-standing requirement that users pay a subscription to avoid personalised advertising.
The sanctions, which were adopted as the European Commission negotiated with the U.S. government to find a solution to the tariff war, are the first imposed under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the new European Union regulation that governs the market power of large internet platforms.
The fines are far from the maximum penalty of 10% of global turnover allowed by the DMA due to the “short period” that has elapsed since it opened the investigation into Apple on June 24, 2024, and Meta on July 1 of that same year, community sources said.
“Today’s decisions send a strong and clear message,” said Teresa Ribera, Vice President for Clean Transition and head of competition policy at the Commission, adding that the law “protects European consumers and establishes a level playing field.”
She added: “Apple and Meta have failed to comply with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms.”
“As a result, we have taken firm but balanced enforcement actions against both companies, based on clear and predictable standards,” she said.
Apple
Under the DMA, Apple must allow mobile app developers to inform their customers free of charge about offers outside the App Store, but Brussels concluded that the company applies technical and commercial restrictions that prevent both competitors and users from benefiting from cheaper alternatives.
According to a statement from the European Commission, Apple has failed to demonstrate that these restrictions are “objectively necessary,” and is therefore required to withdraw them.
The EU executive also warned Apple that it faces another future fine for the difficulties it imposes on competitors in encouraging iPhone and iPad users to use alternatives to the App Store, such as the €0.50 ($0.57) fee it forces developers of other mobile app stores to pay.
Brussels, however, noted that Apple already allows iPhone users to install alternative browsers to Safari and has made it easier for them to change default settings for calls, call screening, messaging, keyboards, password managers, and translation services. It has therefore closed another of the investigations it opened against the company in March of last year.
Meta
Regarding Meta, the EU executive concluded that the subscription forcing Facebook and Instagram users to pay to avoid personalized advertising violated the DMA because it prevented them from freely choosing a model that did not use their data similarly to the payment system.
Meta introduced the “consent or pay” system in November 2023, and it ran until November 2024, when Meta introduced a new version of the free personalized ad model, which Brussels is currently reviewing.
The sanction, therefore, was applied while the model was in force from March 2024, when the DMA came into force, until November of that same year.
Aside from the fine, the Commission ruled that Facebook’s online marketplace, Facebook Marketplace, should no longer be considered a major internet platform, as it has fewer than 10,000 business users per month—the threshold established by the regulations.
Apple and Meta now have 60 days to comply with the Commission’s demands or face daily fines.