The European Commission recently held a news conference in Brussels, announcing that it had imposed a hefty fine of 700 million euros (about $800 million) on two major U.S. technology companies, Apple and MetaPlatform (Facebook’s parent company), for allegedly violating the relevant provisions of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) within the European Union. The penalties are the first use of the Act’s fining power since it came into force in 2023, and are seen as a landmark move in the EU’s role as a “gatekeeper” for regulating large technology platforms.
The first large fines since the implementation of the bill
The targets of the penalty are Apple and Meta. According to the announcement issued by the European Commission:
- Apple was fined 500 million euros for restricting app developers in the App Store ecosystem from providing users with information on channels for external purchases of apps, which impedes the right of users to obtain better prices or more flexible options when subscribing to, or purchasing, digital content, and constitutes a suppression of the user’s right to freedom of choice.
- Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) was fined €200 million because its “consent or pay” model, which was introduced in 2024, was found to be a “disguised compulsion for users to accept personalized ad tracking “. The model, which requires users to either consent to their data being used for ad targeting or pay a monthly fee for an ad-free experience, was deemed to violate the DMA’s principle of “free and express consent”.
The EU said the above behavior not only harmed consumers’ interests but also undermined fair competition in the market. The two companies were asked to rectify the situation within 60 days or face additional fines, calculated at 5% of global turnover per day.
The Digital Marketplace Act and technology “gatekeeper” regulation
The Digital Marketplace Act is an important outcome of the EU’s digital regulatory reforms in recent years and is designed to address the monopoly of a few tech giants in the platform economy. The Act defines a “gatekeeper” for tech companies with a large user base and monopoly control in the EU market, and sets out a series of “prohibitions” and “requirements” for behavior, and “behavioral guidelines.
For example, gatekeeper companies must not prevent third-party platforms from being promoted and accessed, must not give preferential treatment to their services, and must open up data-sharing interfaces to allow free transactions between developers and users.
Apple and Meta were officially added to the list of gatekeepers in 2023. The fines are the first enforcement action since the list was confirmed, and EU officials emphasized, “This is not a symbolic warning, but real legal enforcement.”
Response from all sides
In the face of the EU’s high-pressure regulation, two U.S. technology giants responded quickly:
Apple said in a statement that it “regrets the penalty decision and will appeal”. Apple emphasized that its emphasis on user privacy should not be regarded as a monopoly, and that its restriction on external purchase links was “due to system security and fraud prevention considerations”.
Meta also stated that it would initiate a judicial defense, arguing that the EU’s judgment ignored the platform’s efforts to provide users with “actionable choices,” and that the penalty was “disruptive to the global model of how platforms operate.
The EU Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, reiterated at a press conference that “it doesn’t matter whether a company is from the United States or not, we are only concerned about fair competition and respect for the rights of users. The DMA’s goal is to ensure that the digital marketplace is open and free for everyone. ”
The deepening rift between European and American digital policy
The penalty has also once again exacerbated the friction between the EU and the US in the area of digital regulation. As early as the DMA legislation was passed, the US government has repeatedly expressed concern that it “discriminately targets US businesses”. Former President Trump and the current U.S. Department of Commerce have both said that the EU should be more “cooperative rather than punitive” in dealing with digital policy disagreements.
Immediately after the announcement of the penalties, some members of the U.S. Congress said that “it is important to reassess the arrangements for the digital economy provisions in the U.S.-EU trade agreement,” and hinted at retaliatory restrictions on European technology companies.
Long-term impact
Although both Apple and Meta plan to fight the case through legal channels, most analysts believe that the EU’s move will have a far-reaching impact on the global operational strategies of the entire tech industry:
- On the one hand, tech companies will handle data collection, platform rules, and user agreements more prudently in the future;
- On the other hand, it may also push companies to launch “compliant customized versions” of their services in the EU market to differentiate themselves from the global versions.
- In addition, other regions in the pipeline (e.g., Japan, India, Brazil, etc.) may use the EU DMA as a blueprint for more stringent local regulatory frameworks for the digital economy.
Digital policy scholar Kathleen Hardley noted, “This EU crackdown on large platforms signals that ‘gatekeepers no longer have special access,’ heralding a coming era of compliance-first global tech governance. ”
Fines are a means, not an end
The €700 million fine issued by the EU to Apple and Meta is a milestone in the history of global digital regulation. It not only tests the enforcement of the Digital Market Act, but also marks the role of the EU from “rule maker” to “strong enforcer”.
Regardless of the outcome of this game, it will promote technology platforms to respect the rights of users and will lay the foundation for the construction of a fairer, transparent, and sustainable digital ecosystem for the world.
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