Apple and Meta Platforms are set to face “modest” fines for allegedly breaching landmark rules aimed at reining in their power, Reuters reports, quoting unnamed “people with direct knowledge of the matter.”
Both companies have been in the European Commission’s crosshairs since last year for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act which could cost companies as much as 10% of their global annual sales. The sources said a final decision on the size of the fines has not yet been taken and the situation could still change. A decision is expected this month, in line with what EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera told Reuters in February.
The digital antitrust rules — dubbed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) — are designed to “ensure fair competition in the digital marketplace,” according to the EU. Apple released a report in December 2024 that highlights its concerns g its concerns about the flaws in the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) interoperability requirements, especially those involving access to user data.
In December 2024 Apple issued.a report criticizing the DMA requirements .Here are some highlights from the report:
These processes will hurt innovation—companies should be able to compete with one another to make their own products work together in new ways that benefit users without giving their ideas away to competitors. Apple is the only company being forced to share its innovations in this way with everyone else, including those who do not share its commitment to user privacy.
No company has made more interoperability requests of Apple than Meta. In many cases, Meta is seeking to alter functionality in a way that raises concerns about the privacy and security of users, and that appears to be completely unrelated to the actual use of Meta external devices, such as Meta smart glasses and Meta Quests.
Third parties may not have the same commitment to keeping the user in control on their device as Apple. For instance, if a user asks Siri to read out loud the latest message received via WhatsApp, Meta or other third parties could indirectly gain access to the contents of the message. No one is in a position to understand the full risks of that.
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