EU investigates Apple, Google, Meta under new digital law
The European Union on Monday hit Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet and Meta in the first-ever investigation under its vast digital law, which could lead to huge fines against major US companies.
“The measures introduced by these gatekeepers are suspected to fall short of effective compliance with their obligations under the DMA (Digital Markets Act),” the EU's antitrust regulator, the European Commission, said in a statement.
Since March 7, six of the world's biggest tech companies (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft) have been named so-called “gatekeepers” to the EU's landmark DMA. I had to obey.
DMA has the lofty goal of creating a fairer digital space by reining in the online behavior of major companies, including giving users more choice.
Government officials acknowledged that changes were already occurring, but suggested they were not going far enough.
Thierry Breton, the EU's internal market commissioner, said: “We are not convinced that the solutions from Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations to deliver a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses.” said.
Under the new rules, the commission can impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company's global turnover. For repeat offenders, this percentage can rise to up to 20%.
In extreme circumstances, the EU has the power to break up companies.
Unlike previous EU rules, where investigations could take years, the DMA requires regulators to act quickly and complete investigations within 12 months of starting them.
– Anxiety about restrictions –
Monday's investigation focuses on whether Alphabet's Google Play and Apple's App Store allow app developers to display offers to consumers outside of those app marketplaces for free. .
“We are concerned that Alphabet and Apple's measures impose various restrictions and limitations and may not be fully compliant,” the committee said in a statement.
Alphabet has also faced questions about whether Google's search results prioritize its services (Google Shopping, Google Flights, Google Hotels) over competitors.
In 2017, the EU fined Google a hefty 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 billion) for similar claims of self-preference.
Apple is also attracting attention for how easily users can uninstall apps on its iOS operating system and the design of its web browser selection screen.
The DMA requires gatekeepers to provide web browser and search engine selection screens to level the playing field and provide users with more choice.
Meta is facing additional issues over its ad-free subscription model, which has already been the subject of three complaints since its launch in November.
The commission said a “binary choice” for EU users “fails to offer users a real choice if they do not consent and may fail to achieve the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers.” I am concerned.
Meta faces an avalanche of legal challenges in the EU over its data processing, including a €1.2 billion fine last year for data privacy violations.
– Dissatisfied with Apple –
In a separate move, regulators have warned that Amazon may be giving preferential treatment to private-label products on its Amazon Store, and that Apple's new fee structure for alternative app stores may “defeat the purpose of the DMA mandate.” We also plan to investigate whether there is.
The EU regulator also ordered Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft to “retain certain documents to monitor effective implementation and compliance.”
Monday's announcement is another problem for Apple, which is facing a slew of legal challenges on both sides of the Atlantic.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple, accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market.
It came just weeks after the EU fined the iPhone maker €1.8 billion for preventing consumers from accessing cheap music streaming subscriptions.
Apple said it would appeal the EU fine.
Source: guardian.ng