Apple files legal case contesting the EU’s Digital Marketing Act

Apple has filed a legal case contesting decisions taken by the European Commission (EC) under its recently-introduced Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to a post shared by the Court of Justice of the European Union on X — as noted by Reuters.

The DMA will force Apple to allow users to utilize third-party app stores and payment systems. It will also force the company to make its Message interoperable with other messaging apps — including WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

If Apple and other companies don’t comply, the European Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover or 20% in the event of repeated infringements and periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of the company’s total worldwide daily turnover.

Not surprisingly, Apple strongly opposes the DMA. The tech giant told ABC News on March 25 that “it was concerned that parts of the Digital Markets Act “will create unnecessary privacy and security vulnerabilities for our users while others will prohibit us from charging for intellectual property in which we invest a great deal.”

The EU is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its policies aim “to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development.”

Earlier this week, fellow tech giants Meta and TikTok filed appeals contesting their designation as “gatekeepers” under the act, requiring them to inter-operate their messaging apps with rivals and let users decide which apps to pre-install on their devices. Apple has previously done that.