Brussels has not wavered. On Wednesday 23 April, the European Commission imposed fines on Meta and Apple for breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Apple has been fined €500m for preventing application developers from offering their products outside the App Store. What’s more, Apple allegedly forbids developers from informing users of the existence of cheaper or alternative offers outside its ecosystem.

The European Commission is calling on Apple “to remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future," and is urging it to refrain from any equivalent manoeuvre in the future.

Meta ordered to review ad-free model

For Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, it is the management of personal data that is at issue. As a reminder, in 2023 the company presented a binary advertising model. Facebook and Instagram users had the choice of consenting to the combination of their personal data for targeted advertising purposes, or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service.

“This model is not compliant with the DMA,” said the European executive, which is calling for a truly privacy-friendly alternative that does not penalise the quality of the service. In November 2024, Meta presented a new advertising model that is currently being analysed by the European Commission. As a result, the company has been fined €200m for infringements identified between the entry into force of the DMA in March 2024 and the presentation of the new model eight months later.

The two companies now have 60 days to comply, failing which they face potentially hefty financial penalties.

This article was originally published in .