The European Commission has hit both Apple and Meta Platforms with stiff fines for allegedly breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The Commission announced that it “found that Apple breached its anti-steering obligation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and that Meta breached the DMA obligation to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data. Therefore, the Commission has fined Apple and Meta with €500 million (£427m) and €200 million (£171m) respectively.”

This is not the first time both firms have been hit with stiff financial penalities from European regulators. In November 2024 Meta was fined €797.7m (£663m) for allegedly breached EU antitrust rules by tying Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook, and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers.

Other fines

Also in May 2023 Meta was fined by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) a record 1.2 billion euros (£1bn) and was ordered to stop transferring Facebook user data to the US.

In March 2024 Apple was fined more than 1.8 billion euros (£1.6bn) by the European Commission, which had alleged there was an abuse of Apple’s dominant position for music streaming with its App Store

In September 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13bn (£11bn or $14.4bn) in unpaid taxes to Ireland.

But this is the first time that European Union antitrust regulators have fined American tech firms under the landmark DMA – a move that could increase tensions with the Trump administration.

Apple fine

Now the European Commission has levied more fines on both Apple and Meta, and the regulator said the two decisions “come after extensive dialogue with the companies concerned allowing them to present in detail their views and arguments.”

The Commission noted that under the DMA, app developers distributing their apps via Apple’s App Store should be able to inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases.

“The Commission found that Apple fails to comply with this obligation,” the regulator stated. “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 as 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 Commission said it has therefore 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 fine imposed on Apple takes into account the gravity and duration of the non-compliance, it added.

Today, the Commission has also closed the investigation on Apple’s user choice obligations, thanks to early and proactive engagement by Apple on a compliance solution.

Meta fine

Meanwhile Mark Zuckerberg’s has been fined for its alleged non-compliance decision on Meta’s “consent or pay” model

The EC noted that under the DMA, gatekeepers must seek users’ consent for combining their personal data between services. Those users who do not consent must have access to a less personalised but equivalent alternative.

In November 2023, Meta introduced a binary ‘Consent or Pay’ advertising model. Under this model, EU users of Facebook and Instagram had a choice between consenting to personal data combination for personalised advertising or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service.

The Commission said it has 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. Meta’s model also did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data.

In November 2024, after numerous exchanges with the Commission, Meta apparently introduced another version of the free personalised ads model, offering a new option that allegedly uses less personal data to display advertisements.

The Commission said it is currently assessing this new option and continues its dialogue with Meta, requesting the company to provide evidence of the impact that this new ads model has in practice.

The Commission said the fine imposed on Meta also takes into account the gravity and duration of the non-compliance, while noting that today’s decisions taken against Apple and Meta are the first non-compliance decisions adopted under the DMA.

The Commission also found that Meta’s online intermediation service Facebook Marketplace should no longer be designated under the DMA.

The decision follows a request submitted by Meta on 5 March 2024 to reconsider the designation of Marketplace.

“Today’s decisions send a strong and clear message,” said Teresa Ribera, executive VP for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. “The Digital Markets Act is a crucial instrument to unlock potential, choice and growth by ensuring digital players can operate in contestable and fair markets. It protects European consumers and levels the playing field. 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. All companies operating in the EU must follow our laws and respect European values,” said Ribera.