Meta Platforms (META) and Apple (AAPL) are pushing back against a combined $799 million in EU fines, accusing European regulators of targeting successful American tech companies under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Meta received a $228 million penalty for allegedly violating the DMA by failing to give users a clear option to use Facebook and Instagram without personalized data tracking. Apple was fined $571 million for restricting app developers from offering alternative in-app payment systems through the App Store.
Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan criticized the decision, calling it a direct attack on American innovation. “The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards,” Kaplan said in a statement.
He also warned the ruling forces Meta to overhaul its advertising business model, amounting to a “multi-billion-dollar tariff” and limiting access to personalized advertising, which Kaplan argues also hurts European small businesses and digital economies.
Meta confirmed plans to appeal the ruling, which stems from the DMA’s requirement that Big Tech gatekeepers offer users a “less personalized but equivalent” alternative when data consent is not given.
The DMA, which took effect in March 2024, aims to curb monopolistic practices by companies labeled “gatekeepers” — a group that includes Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and ByteDance. Under the law, companies are prohibited from self-preferencing, combining personal data across platforms without consent, and blocking third-party in-app payment systems.
Apple also lashed out at EU regulators, with a spokesperson saying the Commission is unfairly penalizing the company for protecting user privacy and security. “We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours making changes that users didn’t ask for,” the company said. “This decision is bad for user privacy, bad for product quality, and forces us to give away our technology for free.”
Apple plans to challenge the fine in court, continuing its ongoing legal battle with the EU. The company has already appealed a previous $2 billion antitrust fine under older EU laws. Meta is also in the middle of appealing a $1.2 billion fine from last year.
The tech-focused Chamber of Progress, a US-based trade group, condemned the EU’s actions as an attack on American innovation and a potential spark for a digital trade war.
“Europe is building a digital curtain around itself,” said CEO Adam Kovacevich, “and turning its own citizens into second-class digital citizens by cutting off access to the personalized experiences they want.”
As regulatory scrutiny intensifies on Big Tech, the stakes are rising for how companies like Meta and Apple adapt their business models in Europe — and whether the US-EU tech tensions could escalate into broader trade disputes.
