The European Commission imposes large fines for Meta and Apple, the first under regulation aimed at restricting the power of digital giants

The European Commission announced on Wednesday, April 23rd significant financial sanctions against American technology giants Apple and Meta (Facebook, Instagram). Apple has been fined 500m euros for unjust conditions at App Store, which harm app providers and their clients. Meta will have to pay 200m euros for violating a regulation regulating use of personal data.

These sanctions are the first to be imposed under the new European regulation for digital markets, which went into effect last year to end abuses of dominant positions by technology giants, reports Le MondeTransmton Periscope.

They come a year after the opening of proceedings against two California groups, but above all at a delicate time for transatlantic relations. The European Union is in the middle of negotiations with the US administration to get rid of customs duties imposed by Donald Trump.

The American president regularly condemns taxes, fines, and regulatory restrictions imposed by Europe on American digital services. The amount of fines, however, seems moderate compared to those imposed so far for the large “technology” from the EU. This should not frighten Apple and Meta, which last year posted net profits of 93.7 billion and $62.4 billion (about 82 billion and 55 billion euros), respectively.

The Commission claims it requires compliance by companies through dialogue, where punishment is an obstacle, but not a goal of regulation. However, the bill can be raised quickly if Apple and Meta do not show goodwill. Both companies “are required to respect the Commission's decisions within 60 days, in case of failure they are responsible for periodic fine payments,” warns the Commission. /Periscopi/