Apple and Meta had already been in the sights of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Brussels for several months for not respecting user consent. After several months of investigations, and despite efforts on the part of Meta and Apple to defend themselves, the decision has finally been made.
In its public announcement of this Wednesday, April 23, the European Commission announced heavy sanctions for Apple and Meta for a total of 700 million euros.
500 million euros for Apple
In this decision issued this week, it is unfortunately Apple that must face the heaviest sanction. This is another blow for Apple, just a few weeks after the Apple Intelligence controversy, where the company will be tried for false advertising in the courts of San Jose, California.
While waiting for this judgment, which is expected to take several months, Apple will already have to pay a fine of 500 million euros following the Brussels decision. In its report, we can see that Apple is accused to impose too many restrictions on its famous App Store.
While this measure is completely justified for some analysts, they also claim that it is also a complete challenge to the Apple ecosystem. The American firm is known for offering a "closed" system, which is also what has made it successful in recent years.
200 million euros for Meta
For its part, Meta is doing a little better than Apple, with a fine of 200 million euros. However, this decision could impact Meta's model in the coming months. coming, because it's a big first...
Indeed, Meta is the first company to be fined for the use of users' personal data. Before March 2024, companies on the European continent were not affected.
At the time, Dick Brouwer, senior director of engineering at WhatsApp, feared that the application would be unusable in Europe in a confidence to WIRED magazine. This decision by the European Commission could lead Meta, the parent company, to revise its copy...
60 days to comply
Even if the two companies have already taken a first step towards the European Commission, such as the iOS 18.2 update on Apple's side, it is still not enough.
If the two companies do not comply with Europe's decisions within two months come, they could be subject to a new fine representing 10% of their annual turnover.
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