Apple and Meta hit with massive fines for violating EU law

Apple and Meta were each slapped with fines of hundreds of millions dollars Wednesday for violating the European Union’s new competition law that aims to curb the power of Big Tech.EU antitrust regulators fined Apple $570 million for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.Meta, meanwhile, was hit with a $230 million because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them, the watchdog said.The penalties were the first to be imposed on Big Tech companies under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which was adopted in 2022.The sanctions followed a year-long probe by the European Commission into whether the two companies complied with the landmark legislation, which seeks to allow smaller rivals into markets dominated by the biggest companies.Apple has already vowed to challenge the ruling.“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 in a statement.Meta, meanwhile, slammed the fine.“The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards,” a spokesperson said.“This isn’t just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model, effectively imposing a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service.”The decisions were expected to come in March, but officials are said to have held off amid President Trump’s escalating tariff war.With Post wires...