EU fines Meta and Apple for breaching digital antitrust rules

The European Union on Wednesday fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros each for breaching the bloc’s digital competition laws.

The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, said it was fining Apple 500 million euros ($571 million) and Meta 200 million euros ($228.4 million) for breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Officials said that Apple failed to comply with so-called “anti-steering” obligations under the DMA. Under the EU’s tech law, Apple is required to allow developers to freely inform customers of alternative offers outside its App Store.

The tech giant was ordered by the EU to remove technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating its non-compliant conduct in the future.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday.

For Meta, the EU Commission found that the social media group illegally required users to consent to sharing their data with the company or pay for an ad-free service. This was in response to Meta’s introduction of a paid subscription tier for Facebook and Instagram in November 2023.

Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said in a statement that the Commission was “attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”

“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 personalized advertising the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies,” Kaplan said.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.