Perhaps the E.U. Took Mercy on Apple and Meta (and Investors) This Week
Barbara Moens and Henry Foy, reporting from Brussels for the Financial Times last Friday, March 28: The EU is set to impose minimal fines on Apple and Facebook owner Meta next week under its Digital Markets Act, as Brussels seeks to avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump. According to people familiar with the decisions, the iPhone maker is expected to be fined and ordered to revise its App Store rules, following an investigation into whether they prevent app developers from sending consumers to offers outside its platform. Regulators will also close another investigation into Apple, which was focused on the company’s design of its web browser choice screen without any further sanctions. Meta will also be fined and ordered to change its “pay or consent” model which forces users to either consent to data tracking or pay a subscription fee for an ad-free experience of its products. The FT is usually the go-to source for leaked news from the European Commission. But “next week” came and went with no announcements made. Maybe the FT just had a bad source, or maybe there was some sort of unforeseen delay? Or maybe the EC looked at the chaos unleashed by Trump this week and figured these fines could wait another week. Or maybe they’re just recalculating the fines post-trade-war. ★
Barbara Moens and Henry Foy, reporting from Brussels for the Financial Times last Friday, March 28:
The EU is set to impose minimal fines on Apple and Facebook owner Meta next week under its Digital Markets Act, as Brussels seeks to avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump.
According to people familiar with the decisions, the iPhone maker is expected to be fined and ordered to revise its App Store rules, following an investigation into whether they prevent app developers from sending consumers to offers outside its platform. Regulators will also close another investigation into Apple, which was focused on the company’s design of its web browser choice screen without any further sanctions.
Meta will also be fined and ordered to change its “pay or consent” model which forces users to either consent to data tracking or pay a subscription fee for an ad-free experience of its products.
The FT is usually the go-to source for leaked news from the European Commission. But “next week” came and went with no announcements made. Maybe the FT just had a bad source, or maybe there was some sort of unforeseen delay? Or maybe the EC looked at the chaos unleashed by Trump this week and figured these fines could wait another week. Or maybe they’re just recalculating the fines post-trade-war.
