European Union regulators fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros on Wednesday, intensifying the bloc’s crackdown on Big Tech under its landmark digital competition rules.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, levied a €500 million ($571 million) fine on Apple for restricting app developers from directing users to cheaper subscription options outside the App Store—an alleged abuse of its dominant platform position.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was fined €200 million for forcing users to choose between accepting targeted ads or paying a subscription to avoid them, a model the EU said violates user choice principles.
While the penalties fall short of the EU’s previous multibillion-euro fines against tech giants in antitrust cases, they mark a new era of enforcement under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA)—a sweeping regulatory framework designed to curb anti-competitive behavior by so-called digital “gatekeepers.”
Originally expected in March, the decisions were reportedly delayed due to rising trade tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized EU regulations targeting American firms.
The DMA sets out strict requirements for dominant tech platforms to ensure consumers have more control over their data and businesses are not locked into unfair digital ecosystems.
“These decisions make it clear that Apple and Meta have deprived users of free choice and must now change their practices,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty.
Apple pushed back strongly, accusing the EU of unfair targeting. “We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with the law,” the company said in a statement.
Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan also criticized the ruling, claiming it unfairly singles out American companies. “The Commission is attempting to handicap successful U.S. businesses while letting European and Chinese firms operate under different standards,” he said.
Both companies are expected to appeal, setting the stage for a legal battle that could further test the reach of the EU’s aggressive digital regulation regime.
