… Today, April 23, 2025, the European Commission has shown some teeth with the EU’s digital rulebook by slamming tech giants Apple and Meta with admittedly low fines. The penalties of €500 million and €200 million each were imposed for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and were complemented by an order to the companies to stop the infringing behaviour.

The fine on Meta was levied for their ‘Pay or Consent’/’Pay or Okay’ model which forces people to either pay for their right to privacy or consent to extensive commercial surveillance on their platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Disappointingly, the Commission has not taken a final decision on the ‘alternative’ Meta proposed to their Pay or Consent model, which allegedly offers an option with ‘less personalised ads’ but still tracks people’s data and forces them into using the personalised model.

Apple was fined for their restrictive app store rules which prevent app developers from freely informing their users about alternative offers and content. The Commission has also issued preliminary findings confirming that Apple makes it unduly difficult for people to use alternative app distribution channels on iOS, among others by charging unnecessary and disproportionate fees…