European regulators crack down on big tech companies

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) European regulators have launched a series of investigations into Big Tech. In recent moves, the EU antitrust watchdog accused Meta and Apple of violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and Microsoft of illegally tying its Office and Teams products.

A breach of the DMA may result in fines of up to 10% of a company’s global annual turnover.

Here are some of the actions taken by European regulators against big tech companies:

EUROPEAN UNION

The European Commission (EC), the EU’s competition law enforcer, accused Meta on 1 July of failing to comply with the DMA in its new paid or consent advertising model.

The European Commission said Binary Choice forces users to consent to the pooling of their personal data and does not provide them with a less personalised but equivalent version of Meta’s social networks.

In May, Meta added security features to its disinformation tracker CrowdTangle, set to be used during the June European Parliament elections, in an effort to address EU concerns that led to an investigation in April into the impact of Meta’s decision to pull the plug on the tool.

On May 16, the European Commission said Facebook and Instagram were also being investigated for potential breaches of EU rules on online content to protect children, which could result in heavy fines.

The European Commission found on June 24 that Apple’s App Store rules violate the DMA because they prevent app developers from directing consumers to alternative offers.

The journalist reported that he was launching a new investigation into Apple over its new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores.

Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($1.97 billion) on March 4, the first antitrust fine in the EU, following a complaint filed in 2019 by Spotify. Apple said it would challenge the decision in court.

On June 25, EU antitrust authorities accused Microsoft of illegally bundling its Teams chat and video app with its Office product and said further action should be taken to unbundle the bundle.

Microsoft said it would take steps to find solutions to regulators’ concerns.

The European Commission is also investigating whether Microsoft is preventing customers from using security software from competitors, according to a document that regulators sent to at least one of its rivals in January and seen by Reuters.

EU antitrust regulators also said Microsoft’s investment of more than $10 billion in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, could be subject to EU merger rules.

OpenAI’s efforts to deliver fewer false messages from its ChatGPT chatbot will not be enough to ensure full compliance with EU data rules, a working group at the EU’s privacy watchdog said in May.

The European Commission announced in March that it was investigating Alphabet subsidiary Google for possible violations of the DMA.

An adviser to Europe’s top court said on Jan. 11 that the court should uphold the EU’s 2.42 billion euro ($2.60 billion) antitrust fine on Google. The European Commission fined the company in 2017 for using its own price comparison service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

In September 2023, the EU listed 22 gatekeeper services run by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance, owner of TikTok, giving them six months to comply with DMA rules that are designed to make it easier for European users to switch between competing services.

In April, regulators designated Apple’s iPad operating system as a gatekeeper to DMA rules.

Meta and TikTok appealed their gatekeeper status in November, and the latter lost an attempt to suspend its designation in February. Apple said in April that it would continue to work with EC to ensure compliance.

BRITAIN

In October, the UK media regulator asked the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance of the UK cloud market. The CMA is expected to complete its investigation by April 2025.

FRANCE

Nvidia is set to be charged by France’s antitrust watchdog for alleged anti-competitive practices, people with direct knowledge of the matter said July 1, making the company the first authority to take action against the chipmaker.

The so-called French statement of opposition, or charge sheet, comes after the recent raids on the graphics card sector in September last year, which sources said were aimed at Nvidia.

French authorities and Nvidia declined to comment.

France’s competition watchdog fined Google €250 million ($268 million) in March for violating EU intellectual property rules in its dealings with media publishers.

GERMANY

Google has agreed to change its user data practices to end a German antitrust investigation that aimed to curtail the data-driven company’s market power, the German cartel authority said in October.

ITALY

Italy’s antitrust authority announced on June 5 that it had fined Facebook and Meta €3.5 million ($3.75 million) for unfair commercial practices.

Last year, the company launched an investigation into Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the app market, and also took action against Meta for allegedly abusing its position in the country. The investigation concerned rights to music published on its platforms.

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch privacy authority in April recommended that government organizations stop using Facebook until it is clear what happens to the personal data of users of government Facebook pages.

The country’s competition watchdog last year rejected Apple’s objections to fines of 50 million euros ($53.6 million) for failing to comply with rules aimed at limiting the App Store’s dominant position. Apple will appeal the decision in Dutch courts.

SPAIN

The Spanish data protection authority in May temporarily suspended two planned Meta products that were to be rolled out during the European Parliament elections on Instagram and Facebook.

A group representing more than 700 startups in Spain filed a complaint in May with the country’s anti-Microsoft cloud computing regulator, citing a series of allegedly anti-competitive practices in recent years.

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