The European Commission has issued its first fines under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) in cases involving Apple and Meta, drawing criticism from both companies in the process.
The Commission imposed a fine of €500 million on Apple over what it described as “technical and commercial restrictions on steering” in respect of its App Store service.
Under the DMA, the Commission said, Apple must allow third party app developers to “inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases”. The company did not meet this obligation to refrain from imposing anti-steering measures, it said.
“Due to a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store,” the Commission said in a statement. “Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers. The company has failed to demonstrate that these restrictions are objectively necessary and proportionate.”
“As part of today's decision, the Commission has ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future, which includes adopting conduct with an equivalent object or effect,” it added.
Apple intends to appeal the decision, with a company spokesperson reported by Politico as accusing the Commission of moving the compliance “goal posts” and of “unfairly targeting Apple”.
The Commission has also decided to close a separate investigation into Apple’s compliance with its user choice obligations under the DMA and, in another DMA procedure, it has issued preliminary findings concerning Apple's new contractual requirements for alternative app distribution.
Meta was fined €200m by the Commission after the regulator considered a previous version of the company’s so-called ‘consent or pay’ model to be non-compliant with the DMA.
Meta began offering a subscription-based, ad-free Instagram and Facebook service in Europe in 2023. It previously said that the Court of Justice of the EU has endorsed the concept of a subscriptions model as a way for people to consent to data processing for personalised advertising. The Commission considered, however, that the model “did not give users the required specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the ‘personalised ads' service” nor allowed users to “exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data”.
Meta altered its model in November 2024, giving users more choice over how they access its services. The Commission said it is currently assessing the new option Meta introduced.
Joel Kaplan, chief global affairs officer for Meta, said the Commission is “attempting to handicap successful American businesses” and applying “different standards” to US businesses compared with EU and Chinese companies.
Kaplan said: “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. And by unfairly restricting personalised advertising the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.”
The Commission has also announced that Meta’s Facebook Marketplace service will no longer be designated as subject to the DMA, after considering evidence submitted by the company.
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