TECH NEWS – The two US companies have been fined a lot, which is a lot for us and peanuts for them, so the law will not be enforced for long…
The European Commission (EC) has found that both Apple and Meta violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and have been fined a total of €700 million. In the case of Apple, the infringement related to violations of anti-governance rules and the related fine was set at €500 million, while in the case of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company violated the obligation to allow consumers to choose a service that uses less personal data. This resulted in a fine of €200 million.
Apple’s infringement relates to the company’s App Store, which is required by law to allow developers to inform customers free of charge about alternative offers outside the ecosystem: “The Commission found that Apple does not comply with this obligation. 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. Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers because 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,” the EC wrote.
Meta’s fine relates to what the Commission calls the “consent or pay” advertising model: “Under this model, EU users of Facebook and Instagram had the choice between consenting to the combination of personal data for personalized advertising or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service. The Commission found that this model did not comply with the DMA because it did not give users the necessary specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the ‘personalized advertising’ service. Meta’s model also did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data,” the EC added.
That’s pocket change for both companies. Moreover, Meta recently announced that Reality Labs has lost money for six years in a row (2024: -$17.7 billion), and the only response has been layoffs, which still generated annual revenues of $164.5 billion, and Apple’s quarterly report reported revenues of $124.3 billion…
Leave a Reply