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European Union regulators opened investigations into Apple, Google and Meta on Monday, in the first cases under a sweeping new law designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets that took effect earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc\u2019s executive arm, said it was investigating the companies for \u201cnon-compliance\u201d with the Digital Markets Act.<\/p>\n
The Digital Markets Act is a broad rulebook<\/a> that targets Big Tech \u201cgatekeeper\u201d companies<\/a> providing \u201ccore platform services\u201d by forcing them to comply with a set of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, under threat of hefty financial penalties or even breaking up businesses. The rules have the broad but vague goal of making digital markets \u201cfairer\u201d and \u201cmore contestable\u201d by breaking up closed tech ecosystems that lock consumers into a single company\u2019s products or services.<\/p>\n The commission said in a press release that it \u201csuspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s looking into whether Google and Apple are fully complying with the DMA\u2019s rules requiring tech companies to allow app developers to direct users to offers available outside their app stores. The commission said it\u2019s concerned the two companies are imposing \u201cvarious restrictions and limitations\u201d including charging fees that prevent apps from freely promoting offers.<\/p>\n Google is also facing scrutiny for not complying with DMA provisions that prevent tech giants from giving preference to their own services over rivals. The commission said it is concerned Google\u2019s measures will result in third-party services listed on Google\u2019s search results page not being treated \u201cin a fair and non-discriminatory manner.\u201d<\/p>\n The commission is also investigating whether Apple is doing enough to allow iPhone users to easily change web browsers. It\u2019s also looking into Meta\u2019s option for users to pay a monthly fee for\u00a0ad-free versions<\/a>\u00a0of Facebook or Instagram so they can avoid having their personal data used to target them with online ads.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta\u2019s \u2018pay or consent\u2019 model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n