EU hits Apple, Meta with €700mn in fines for breaching antitrust rules

The European Union fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of dollars for breaking the bloc’s digital rules.

Apple faces a €500 million ($570 million) fine for breaching competition rules by directing consumers away from competitors to its app store, and Meta was hit with a €200 million ($230 million) penalty for requiring EU users to pay to access ad-free versions of its products.

These are the first fines issued under 2024’s Digital Markets Act, although the EU hit the same two companies with even larger fines under antitrust laws last year.

The union has said it wants to be a “regulatory superpower,” forcing global compliance with its rules, despite lacking many large tech firms of its own.