The EU Commission is opening proceedings against Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook’s parent company Meta. It should be checked whether the companies have violated new EU rules.
The European Commission has initiated proceedings against the Internet giants Apple, Alphabet and Meta. The aim is to examine whether the three US companies have violated the new EU rules that apply under the Digital Market Act (DMA). The Commission announced this today.
“We are not convinced that the [bisherigen] Alphabet, Apple and Meta solutions deliver on their commitments to a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses,” said Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market.
The procedure is directed against certain business practices. According to EU legislation, platforms would have to obtain users’ consent if they wanted to combine their personal data across different central platform services. The Facebook parent company Meta has introduced the “pay or consent” model. However, the Commission is concerned that this model leaves users little choice if they want to use the meta services free of charge.
Apple and Alphabet restrict external providers
In addition, according to the DMA, online giants must enable external app developers to direct consumers to offers outside of their own app stores – free of charge. The Brussels authority has doubts as to whether Alphabet and Apple are fully complying with this. They are accused of restricting developers’ options by imposing various fees.
The Commission also wants to check whether users of Apple devices have the opportunity to easily change their default settings and, for example, use a different browser or search engine. The Commission says it fears that Apple’s actions, including the design of the web browser selection screen, could prevent users from selecting services that lie outside the Apple ecosystem.
High fines possible
Since the beginning of March, companies have had to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It is intended to create more competition in digital services and better opportunities for new rivals. The basic assumption is that some large platform operators are so powerful that they can cement their market position.
The DMA should break this with rules for the so-called gatekeepers. The commission has so far identified 22 gatekeeper services from six companies. These include the US heavyweights Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta.
The commission wants to complete the process within a year. Depending on the results of the investigation, the companies affected must take measures to address the authority’s concerns. Anyone who does not comply with the law can be punished with a fine of up to ten percent of their total worldwide turnover. For repeat offenders, 20 percent is possible.