Apple wanted control, Meta wanted data and that just cost them hundreds of millions
Last month, we mentioned that Apple and Meta were on the EU's radar for possibly breaking rules meant to rein in tech giants. Now, it is official – those fines have landed.
Apple has been hit with a €500 million (around $570 million when directly converted) penalty, while Meta's looking at €200 million (almost $230 million when directly converted). The fines are tied to violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law adopted in 2022 to stop dominant tech players from flexing too much control over users and businesses.
These fines come after a year-long probe by the European Commission to check whether Apple and Meta were actually playing by the DMA rulebook. Spoiler: they weren't.
Both tech giants aren't holding back after getting slapped with those hefty fines. Apple and Meta have come out swinging, blasting the EU for what they see as unfair treatment.
Meta's response was just as fiery. It accused the EU of trying to handicap successful American companies while letting others play by different rules.
Apple got hit because the EU found it was blocking developers from directing users to cheaper offers outside of the App Store. In other words, Apple made sure everything had to go through its own store, cutting off more affordable options for users and developers alike.
As for Meta, its fine came down to its controversial "pay or give up your data" model. Basically, users either had to cough up cash to avoid being tracked or agree to have their personal data used across Facebook and Instagram.
The EU didn't like that setup one bit. It said Meta didn't offer a truly equivalent, less personalized experience for those who didn't want their data combined – and that users couldn't really give proper, free consent under those terms.
The fine only covers the stretch between March and November 2024, which is when Meta was running that model before introducing a supposedly more privacy-friendly version – though that is still under the EU's microscope.
Interestingly, while the fines sound big, they are pretty tame compared to the billions Google had to pay last year or what former EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager used to hand out.
According to insiders, the relatively small fines were influenced by how short the violations lasted, a shift in focus toward making companies comply instead of just punishing them and some caution around stirring political drama – think the tariffs Trump's administration wants to put in place.
Now the clock's ticking. Apple has to lift restrictions stopping devs from pointing users to better deals and Meta is already trying to negotiate a new version of its pay-or-consent model. Both companies have two months to sort things out or they will face daily fines until they do.
Apple has been hit with a €500 million (around $570 million when directly converted) penalty, while Meta's looking at €200 million (almost $230 million when directly converted). The fines are tied to violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law adopted in 2022 to stop dominant tech players from flexing too much control over users and businesses.
Both tech giants aren't holding back after getting slapped with those hefty fines. Apple and Meta have come out swinging, blasting the EU for what they see as unfair treatment.
Today's announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free.
– Apple, April 2025
The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards. This isn't just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service.
– Meta, April 2025
So, what exactly triggered those fines?
Apple got hit because the EU found it was blocking developers from directing users to cheaper offers outside of the App Store. In other words, Apple made sure everything had to go through its own store, cutting off more affordable options for users and developers alike.
As for Meta, its fine came down to its controversial "pay or give up your data" model. Basically, users either had to cough up cash to avoid being tracked or agree to have their personal data used across Facebook and Instagram.
The EU didn't like that setup one bit. It said Meta didn't offer a truly equivalent, less personalized experience for those who didn't want their data combined – and that users couldn't really give proper, free consent under those terms.
The fine only covers the stretch between March and November 2024, which is when Meta was running that model before introducing a supposedly more privacy-friendly version – though that is still under the EU's microscope.
According to insiders, the relatively small fines were influenced by how short the violations lasted, a shift in focus toward making companies comply instead of just punishing them and some caution around stirring political drama – think the tariffs Trump's administration wants to put in place.
Now the clock's ticking. Apple has to lift restrictions stopping devs from pointing users to better deals and Meta is already trying to negotiate a new version of its pay-or-consent model. Both companies have two months to sort things out or they will face daily fines until they do.
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