EU antitrust probe targets Tech giants: Apple, Meta, and Google under scrutiny

• Alphabet, Google, Meta, and Apple are under scrutiny for alleged uncompetitive practices.
• If found guilty, these firms could face fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.
• Experts anticipate that the investigation will take around 12 months.

On Monday, EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced that they are investigating some of the biggest tech firms in the world for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022. Alphabet, which owns Google, Meta, and Apple, faces scrutiny over alleged uncompetitive practices. If found guilty, these firms could face massive fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.

Three weeks ago, the EU fined Apple €1.8bn (£1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming. Meanwhile, last week, the United States accused Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant.

In today’s announcement, the EU states that it believes Apple and Alphabet are limiting anti-steering – essentially, making it difficult for apps to inform users about alternative ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores’ payment methods.

The EU is also investigating whether Meta breached its rules by asking people to pay to avoid their data being used for adverts. Mr. Breton stated that the move has “forced millions of users across Europe into a binary choice: pay or consent.”

According to Ms. Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete.

“We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,” she said.

“We will now investigate the companies’ compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe.”

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