The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Meta, and Google as a part of its first investigations into “non-compliance” with the 27-nation bloc’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which could lead to hefty fines for the companies.
About the new law
The probes will be conducted after a sweeping new digital competition law came into effect on March 7. The law has sought to prevent big tech companies, including those in the United States, from cornering digital markets, while making it easier for users to move between competing online services, like social media platforms and browsers.
“We are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses,” said EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton.
The violation of the law could lead the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, to impose fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s total global turnover and raise it to 20 per cent for repeat offenders.
EU probe
The EU probe comes after the tech companies have assured that they have deployed thousands of engineers to meet a DMA requirement of six “gatekeepers” to give users and rivals more choices.
However, the EU regulators are not convinced. Margrethe Vestager, EU antitrust chief, said that they believe that the three companies are not fully complying with the solutions that they proposed last week.
The EU officials, on Monday, were also asked if they were rushing the process just two weeks after the law was enacted, to which Breton said the investigations should not be a surprise.
“The law is the law. We can’t just sit around and wait,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.
Why these three companies?
The EU officials have raised concerns about constraints the tech companies place on the developers’ ability to communicate and promote their offers to the users.
The bloc’s executive arm will also check the changes Google made to its search results in Europe since, as per the new rule, it cannot give its own service preference over similar services offered by rivals.
Similarly, to see if Apple complies with obligations to allow users to easily uninstall software applications on its iOS operating system and change default settings on iOS.
It will also check if Apple is imposing limitations that hinder app developers from informing users about alternatives outside its own App Store that may be free of charge.
Meanwhile, Breton said Meta should offer free alternative options. This comes after the Instagram and Facebook parent company introduced a no-ads subscription service in Europe, last year, which has triggered criticism from rivals and users.
(With inputs from agencies)
