EU launches probe against tech giants under new law

The European Union, on Monday, launched probes into whether Apple, Alphabet and Meta violated a new law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), in what is the latest instance of governments trying to exercise greater control over the functioning of big tech companies. The companies could be fined up to 10% of their global revenues and 20% for repeat infringements of the DMA.

The announcement of the investigations comes just over three weeks after the bloc fined Apple more than €1.84 million (USD 2 billion) for anticompetitive behaviour in the market for the distribution of streaming music apps. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a case against Apple last week for allegedly stifling competition and keeping prices high in the smartphone market.

The DMA fully came into effect on March 7 and seeks to regulate large online companies called ‘gatekeepers’, whose products and services are used by some 450 million EU users. The DMA had designated six ‘gatekeepers’ in September last year: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (owners of TikTok), Meta and Microsoft.

Two of the five announced investigations were about Alphabet and Apple’s alleged “antisteering” practices, the EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, as she explained the provisions along with internal market commissioner Thierry Breton at a press conference in Brussels. The Commission will investigate whether these companies are preventing app manufacturers from directly communicating and contracting with endusers and thereby restricting user choice.