There European Commission has inflicted two heavy penalties ad Apple And Half (the mother society of Facebook and Instagram). The fines, respectively from 500 million euros to Apple and from 200 million euros in Meta, for infringements to the rules established by Digital Markets Act (Dma), the European Union legislation designed to regulate the behavior of large digital platforms.
According to Brussels, Apple violated the provisions anti-storage DEL DMA, preventing the App developers from communicating freely with its users to offer offers outside the App Store. In recent months, the EU had already asked Apple to introduce the interoperability of its willingness to adapt to the rules of the DMA. Meta, on the other hand, was considered not in accordance with the obligation to offer users a less invasive alternative from the point of view of the collection of personal data: his advertising model “Consent or payment” It would not be in line with the principles of free and conscious choice sanctioned by European legislation. The decisions came after months of dialogue with the companies involved and represent the First official fines issued in the context of the DMA. Both companies have 60 days time to adapt, or they risk further penalties.
What is the DMA and how it was violated by Apple and Meta
The Dmawhich entered into force in May 2023, is a law of the European Union that requires stringent obligations to the so -called gatekeeperthat is, companies that control fundamental access points to digital markets. Among these they appear Apple, Half, Alphabet (the company to which it belongs Google), Amazon, Bytedance (the company that develops Tiktok) And Microsoft. The goal of the DMA is to prevent abuse of dominant position and guarantee more equitable competition, giving end users and developers more freedom of choice. Violations can cost dear: The Commission can finance up to 10% of the annual global turnover of a companya threshold that, in the case of Apple or destination, can translate into fines from billions of euros!
But let’s get to the violations already perpetrated by the two big tech. In the specific case of AppleThe Commission has established that the company has continued to impose to the developers of App restrictions that prevent them from informing users on the existence of alternative (and cheaper) payment methods outside the App Store. This practice is defined anti-storagethat is, a behavior that hinders users in “directing” towards solutions other than those offered by the dominant platform. The DMA, on the other hand, requires that the developers can freely promote their services also external to the ecosystem of the dominant platform, without costs or restrictions imposed by the manager of the platform itself.
According to the Commission, Apple was unable to demonstrate that the restrictions imposed were necessary and proportionate. For this reason, in addition to the penalty of half a billion eurosthe Commission ordered Apple of Remove any technical and commercial barrier who prevents free communication between developers and users.
With regard to Halfthe question revolves around the advertising model “Consent or payment”introduced by the Menlo Park giant in November 2023 The Commission has contested that this proposal does not constitute a real alternative: to comply with the DMA, Meta should also have offered a third free and less invasive option, which reduced the use of personal data without forcing the user to pay. Furthermore, it was believed that the consent of users, as required, was not actually free. The absence of practicable alternatives led the Commission to judge the practice as not compliant with the legislation, with one 200 million euro sanction. It should be noted that Meta has subsequently proposed a new advertising model that should use less data, but this proposal is still under evaluation by the Commission.
Apple and Meta: 60 days to adapt
The peculiarity of these decisions also lies in their “pioneering” character: they are the First formal sanctions for violations of the DMAand act as an indication on how the Commission intends to interpret and enforce this legislation. Both companies have already announced the intention of appeal. Apple criticized the Commission for having imposed me measures that, according to him, put at risk the privacy and safety of users, while Meta has accused the EU of imposing a “Multimiliardaria tax»Masked by the regulation, claiming that the new rules damage European companies by reducing the effectiveness of personalized advertising.
For now, Apple and Meta have 60 days to adapt to the decisions received. If they don’t do it, they will be able to incur periodic penalties.
