The European Commission imposes a millionaire fine to Apple and target for breaching the Digital Markets Law
In a turn in the regulation of technological giants, The European Commission has sanctioned Apple and target with fines for a total of 700 million euros Due to the breach of the obligations established under the Digital Markets Law (DMA). Apple must pay € 500 million and target € 200 million.
Research on Apple and Meta opened on March 25, 2024, when the Commission began investigating Apple's guidance rules in the App Store and the “consent or pay” model. In June and July 2024, both companies were notified their preliminary breach of the DMA.
Apple and Meta must comply with the decisions of the European Commission within 60 days, otherwise, they risk periodic penalty payments. The commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the annual global turnover of companies that do not comply with established regulations.
Teresa Ribera, Executive vice president for the clean, fair and competitive transition, explained that “today's decisions transmit a forceful and clear message. The Digital Markets Law is a crucial instrument to release potential, choice and growth, guaranteeing that digital actors can operate in competitive and fair markets. Protects European consumers and establishes equal conditions. Apple and Meta have not complied with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers of their platforms. Consequently, we have taken firm but balanced compliance measures against both companies, based on clear and predictable standards. All companies that operate in the EU must comply with our laws and respect European values ».
Orientation restrictions at the App Store
The DMA requires that application developers that distribute their products through Apple's App Store can inform users about offers alternatives outside the application storewithout any cost, and allow them to make purchases through those channels. The European Commission has concluded that Apple has not complied with this obligation, since the company imposed technical and commercial restrictions that prevent application developers directly informing users about cheaper offers outside the App Store. This limits the options for consumers, who cannot fully access cheaper offers.
In addition, the Commission has ordered Apple to eliminate the restrictions that prevent this “orientation” or “steering” towards external options and refrain from perpetuating this behavior in the future. The fine imposed on Apple takes into account the severity and duration of non -compliance.
Goal: the “consent or pay” model
As for the goal, the commission has determined that its model of “consent or pay” for Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union It also violates the DMA. In November 2023, Meta introduced a binary model in which users They had to choose between spoiling the combination of personal data for personalized advertising or paying a monthly subscription For an advertisement service.
The Commission has concluded that this model does not meet the requirements of the DMA, since it does not offer users the option to choose a service that uses less personal data, which is what the law requires. In addition, goal did not allow users to exercise their right to give free and specific consent on the combination of their personal data.
Although Meta introduced a new version of the model in November 2024 to offer an alternative that allegedly uses less personal data, Today's decision refers to the period between March 2024 (when DMA's obligations became binding) and November 2024, When the new model was presented.
The fine imposed on goal also takes into account the severity and duration of non -compliance. This is the first case in which the European Commission takes non -compliance decisions under the DMA.
In any case, The history of fines received by Mark Zuckerberg in European territory is very wide, and starts long before the entry into force of the DMA. In 2023, for example, goal received a fine of 1.2 billion for violating data protection regulations, being the highest issued by the EU so far. Before, in September 2022, Instagram was also sanctioned with 475 million due to improper management of children and adolescents.
Image: Flux Schnell
