Inquiries of Apple, Google, Meta begin in EU

LONDON — European Union regulators opened investigations Monday into Apple, Google and Meta, the first cases under a sweeping new law designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm, said it was investigating the companies for “non-compliance” with the Digital Markets Act.

The act that took full effect this month is a broad rulebook that targets Big Tech “gatekeeper” companies providing “core platform services.” Those companies must comply with a set of do’s and don’ts, under threat of hefty financial penalties or even breaking up businesses. The rules have the broad but vague goal of making digital markets “fairer” and “more contestable” by breaking up closed tech ecosystems that lock consumers into a single company’s products or services.

The decision was met with immediate pushback from industry groups like the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a nonprofit trade group in Washington that represents tech and communications companies.

“The timing of these announcements, while the DMA compliance workshops are still ongoing, makes it look like the Commission could be jumping the gun,” the group said in a statement. “Possible outcomes aside, this move risks confirming industry fears that the DMA compliance process might end up being politicized.”

Regulators are looking into whether Google and Apple are fully complying with rules requiring tech companies to allow app developers to direct users to cheaper options available outside their app stores.

Google is also facing scrutiny for not complying with DMA provisions that prevent tech giants from giving preference to their own services over rivals.

The commission is also looking into Meta’s option for European users to pay a monthly fee for ad-free versions of Facebook or Instagram so they can avoid having their personal data used to target them with online ads.