Commission finds Apple and Meta in breach of the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission found that Apple breached its anti-steering obligation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and that Meta breached the DMA obligation to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data. Therefore, the Commission has fined Apple and Meta with โฌ500 million and โฌ200 million respectively.
Under the DMA, app developers distributing their apps via Apple’s App Store should be able to inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases.
The Commission found that Apple fails to comply with this obligation. Due to a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store. Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers. The company has failed to demonstrate that these restrictions are objectively necessary and proportionate. As part of its decision, the Commission has ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions.
๐ก๐ผ๐ป-๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ’๐ โ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐โ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น
Under the DMA, gatekeepers must seek users’ consent for combining their personal data between services. Those users who do not consent must have access to a less personalized but equivalent alternative.
In November 2023, Meta introduced a binary โConsent or Pay’ advertising model. Under this model, EU users of Facebook and Instagram had a choice between consenting to personal data combination for personalized advertising or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service.
The Commission found that this model is not compliant with the DMA, as it did not give users the required specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the โpersonalized ads’ service. Meta’s model also did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data.