The European Commission has found two major US tech giants, Apple and Meta, guilty of violating its antitrust rules and has imposed a combined penalty of €700mn ($796mn) on them.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Commission said it had “found that Apple breached its anti-steering obligation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA)” of the European Union, for which it has received a penalty of €500m ($568m).

The statement also added that “Meta breached the DMA obligation to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data.” The social media giant has received a €200m ($227m) penalty.

The Commission has said it had a ‘detailed dialogue’ with both Apple and Meta before reaching the decision, and that both the companies were given the opportunity to present their views and arguments on the case.

Digital Markets Act

The EU, under its Digital Markets Act, has started a number of probes into major US tech giants for potential non-compliance with local rules since March 2024.

A core part of the Act is the idea of a fair playing field, ensuring that EU consumers have a choice when deciding which service provider to choose, that large online platforms behave in a fair way, and that they do not block other competitors from the market.

Apple has already agreed to comply with the requirements under the DMA, and the EU has confirmed the closure of its investigation into the tech giants’ activities after ‘constructive dialogue.’

Both firms have been given 60 days to comply with the Commission’s decision, “otherwise they risk periodic penalty payments.”

Key findings

In a separate press release, the Commission has explained the ways in which Apple and Meta have failed to comply with the block’s anti-steering rules under the DMA.

Apple has been found guilty of creating rules which stop app developers from informing consumers that their apps are also available on other platforms outside the Apple Store. As DMA rules require, developers should be able to share this information with potential purchasers, free of charge, and allow consumers to make an informed decision on what to purchase.

“As part of today’s decision, the Commission has ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future, which includes adopting conduct with an equivalent object or effect,” the Commission has said.

User choice

However, the Commission has also confirmed that, after constructive discussions with Apple, it “has decided to close its investigation into Apple’s user choice obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA)”

The closure comes after “Apple changed its browser choice screen, streamlining the user experience of selecting and setting a new default browser on iPhone,” the Commission has said.

In the case of Meta, the Commission has found that the platform’s Consent or Pay advertising model, which was introduced in November 2023, breached DMA rules.

According to the model, individuals in the EU who used Facebook or Instagram either had to consent to their personal data being combined and used for bespoke advertising, or pay a monthly subscription free for an ad-free service.

“The Commission found that this model is not compliant with the DMA, as it did not give users the required specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the ‘personalised ads’ service,” regulators have said.

Although Meta made amends to the model in November 2024 to comply with EU rules, the Commission says the fine imposed is for the period between March 2024, when the DMA came into force, and November 2024.

Scale back

Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said: “Apple and Meta have fallen short of compliance with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms.

“As a result, we have taken firm but balanced enforcement action against both companies, based on clear and predictable rules.”

However, the penalties are not as big as previously expected, as the EU tries to keep things calm after recent tensions with US President Donald Trump, the Financial Times has reported.

In January, sources had told the paper the bloc was “reassessing” the scale of its investigations against Apple, Meta and Google, and could possibly change the probes’ direction.

That reassessment, according to sources, was because of the close ties between the Trump administration and major US tech giants. Heads of some of these firms attended President Trump’s inauguration in January.

One senior EU diplomat told the FT at the time: “It’s going to be a whole new ballgame with these tech oligarchs so close to Trump and using that to pressurise us. So much is up in the air right now.”

In reaction to the latest decision, Meta bosses were quoted saying the EU wanted to “handicap” American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to “operate under different standards.”

Apple said in an emailed statement that the EU was treating the firm unfairly, and that the latest decision was “bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for our products, and forces us to give away technology for free.”