The European Union (EU) initiated investigations on Monday against Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Meta, marking the first probes under a significant digital law, potentially resulting in substantial fines for the U.S. tech giants.
As part of the EU’s Digital Markets Act, these six companies, including Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance, and Microsoft, have been designated as market “gatekeepers” since March 7, obliging them to adhere to the new regulations.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, expressed doubts about the adequacy of the measures implemented by Alphabet, Apple, and Meta to create a fairer and more open digital environment for European citizens and businesses.
The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust regulator, suspects that the measures implemented by these firms thus far fall short of effective compliance, prompting the launch of probes.
While tech lobbying groups like CCIA criticized the EU for acting hastily, EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, emphasized that regulators had not rushed into probing the companies.
Under the new rules, the commission has the authority to impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s total global turnover, with the possibility of increased fines for repeat offenders. In extreme cases, the EU can order the breakup of companies.
The probes launched on Monday focus on whether Google Play and Apple’s App Store allow app developers to offer consumers deals outside of their respective platforms. Google is also under scrutiny for allegedly favoring its own services in search results.
Apple faces inquiries regarding the ease of app uninstallation on its iOS operating system and the design of the web browser choice screen, while Meta is under scrutiny for its ad-free subscriptions model.
Regulators are concerned about the consent process for Meta’s subscription model and whether Amazon is promoting its own brand products on the Amazon Store. Additionally, EU regulators will assess whether Apple’s new fee structure for alternative app stores undermines its DMA obligations.
These investigations add to Apple’s legal challenges, including a recent lawsuit by the US Department of Justice for alleged monopoly practices in the smartphone market and a 1.8-billion-euro fine from the EU for restricting access to cheaper music streaming subscriptions.
Source: guardian.ng
