EU fines Apple, Meta $800M Combined for Violating Digital Markets Act
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The
European Union (EU)
fined Apple (
AAPL
) and Meta Platforms (
META
) hundreds of millions of dollars for breaching its
Digital Markets Act (DMA)
.
The European Commission, the EU’s enforcement arm, imposed a 500 million euro ($570.4 million) fine on Apple, and 200 million euro fine on Meta for violating the
antitrust
act. It also ordered Apple to remove what it called technical and commercial restrictions “on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future.” The Commission said Apple had violated DMA rules ensuring app developers distributing their apps on the iPhone maker’s app stores can steer customers to their products free of charge.
Both companies have suggested they would appeal. The DMA came into place early last year with the
aim
of ensuring big tech players don’t dominate Europe’s digital market.
Apple shares were up 3% in premarket trading, while those of Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, jumped 5% as stock futures surged after
comments
from President Donald Trump eased worries about tariffs and Federal Reserve independence. (Read
Investopedia’s
live coverage of
today’s market action here
.)
Apple, Meta Plan To Appeal Fines
An Apple spokesperson told
Investopedia
that the tech giant plans to appeal the EU fine.
“Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free,” the spokesperson said. “We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for.”
Meanwhile, the commission said Meta breached the DMA by requiring users of the Facebook and Instagram parent’s products to consent to sharing their data or pay for an ad-free service. A Meta spokesperson said the decision was completely flawed and confirmed Meta intends to appeal.
“The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards,” Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in a statement to
Investopedia.
“This isn’t just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service.“
The EU’s move against two of America’s biggest tech firms could risk potential retaliation from President Donald Trump. In February, the Trump administration said it would consider tariffs or other actions in response to regulations and fines against American tech companies.
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Investopedia
