Apple and Meta fined combined €700m for breaching EU competition rules

By Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent

The European Commission has fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaches of the EU’s digital competition rules.

Apple’s fine is for preventing app developers from pointing users to cheaper options outside the App Store.

Meta was fined for forcing Facebook and Instagram users in the EU to choose between seeing adverts or paying a subscription.

The commission said the social media giant’s model of asking users to consent between having their personal data used for personalised advertising or paying for an ad-free service was not compliant with its rules.

The commission said the firms breached the Digital Markets Act (DMA), EU rules designed to stop the biggest tech firms from dominating digital markets and to give consumers and business more choice.

Teresa Ribera, the commission’s executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition, said: “Apple and Meta have fallen short of compliance with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms.

“As a result, we have taken firm but balanced enforcement action against both companies, based on clear and predictable rules. All companies operating in the EU must follow our laws and respect European values.”

The fines are likely to anger the US government, and could have an impact on tensions between the United States and the EU, particularly over tariffs and trade.

US president Donald Trump and his administration have been critical of EU regulation on tech firms, and see fines imposed by Brussels on big US businesses as a form of taxation.

In a statement, Apple said it would appeal against the fine and accused the commission of “unfairly targeting” it.

“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 said.

“We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for. Despite countless meetings, the commission continues to move the goalposts every step of the way.

“We will appeal and continue engaging with the commission in service of our European customers.”