London – The vigilantes of the European Union multited Apple and target hundreds of millions of euros on Wednesday when they intensified the application of the 27 nations block Digital competence rules.
The European Commission imposed a fine of 500 million euros ($ 571 million) in Apple for preventing application manufacturers from pointing to users to cheaper options outside their App Store.
The commission, which is the EU executive arm, also fined the platforms of 200 million euros because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.
The punishments were smaller than the successful multimillion -dollar fines that the commission has previously slapped the large technological companies in antitrustcases.
Apple and goal have to comply with decisions within 60 days or the risk of “periodic penalty payments” “said the commission.
Decisions were expected to arrive in March, but officials apparently retained in the midst of a growing transatlantic commercial war with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly complained about Brussels regulations that affect US companies.
The sanctions were issued under the EU digital market law, also known as DMA. It is a broad rules book that is equivalent to a set of doing and not doing Designed to provide consumers and companies with more options and prevent great technological “guardians” in the digital markets.
The DMA seeks to ensure that “citizens have total control over when and how their online data is used, and companies can communicate freely with their own customers,” Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president of technological sovereignty of the commission, said in a statement.
“The decisions taken today find that both Apple and Meta have eliminated this free choice of their users and are required to change their behavior,” said Virkkunen.
Both companies indicated that they would appeal.
Apple accused the commission of “unjustly pointing to the iPhone manufacturer, and said that” objectives continue to move “despite the company’s efforts to comply with the rules.
The Meta Global Affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, said in a statement that “the Commission is trying to harm the successful US companies while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”
In the case of the application store, the commission had He accused the iPhone Creator to impose unfair rules that prevent application developers from freely conducting consumers to other channels.
Among the provisions of the DMA are the requirements to allow developers to inform customers about the cheapest purchase options and direct them to those offers.
The commission said it ordered Apple to eliminate the technical and commercial restrictions that prevent developers from conducting users to other channels and that they end the “unpadered” behavior.
Apple said that “he has spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked”.
“Despite the innumerable meetings, the commission continues to move the objectives of objectives in each step of the road,” said the company.
EU’s research goal focused on the company’s strategy to comply with Strict European Data Privacy Rules By giving users the option to pay versions without Facebook and Instagram ads.
Users could pay at least 10 euros ($ 11) per month to avoid being attacked by ads based on their personal data. The United States technological giant launched the option after the Superior Court of the European Union ruled Goal must first obtain consent Before showing ads to users, in a decision that threatened its adaptation business model based on online interests of individual users and digital activity.
Regulators discouraged with the finish line, saying that it does not allow users to exercise their right to “freely consent” to allow their personal data of their various services, which also include Facebook Marketplace, WhatsApp and Messenger, combine for personalized announcements.
Meta implemented a third option in November, giving Facebook and Instagram users in Europe the option to see less personalized ads if they do not want to pay a subscription without ads. The commission said it is “currently evaluating” this option and continues to maintain talks with a goal, and has asked the company to provide evidence of the impact of the new option.
“It is not just a fine; the commission forces us to change our business model effectively imposes a multimillion -dollar rate while demanding us to offer a lower service,” Kaplan said. “And by unfairly restricting personalized advertising, the European Commission is also harming European companies and economies.”
