Apple, Google, Meta Probed Under New Digital Law

(CTN News) – Apple, Google, and Meta have been targeted by European Union regulators for “non-compliance” with the new Digital Market Act.

Earlier this month, the DMA legislation, which sweepingly reshapes the regulatory regime, was signed into law.

As a result of this law, big technology companies will be prevented from cornering digital markets, while creating a fairer digital space by curbing how the biggest companies act online, especially by making sure they give their users more choice about how to use their services.

“We are not convinced that the solutions proposed by [Google parent company] Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a more open and fair digital space for European businesses and citizens,” said Thierry Breton, the European Union’s internal market commissioner.

The EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, has the power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover if it is found to have violated the new law. This fine can be increased to 20% if the company is found to have repeated the offense.

As a result of the DMA, the EU is implementing the groundbreaking Google Digital Services Act to put in place measures to moderate illegal content and prevent, for example, the promotion of hate speech on the online platforms of these companies.

How have the reactions been so far?

A leading international lobbying group for the computer industry, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), has criticized this move as sending a “worrying signal”.

It is no secret that data collection takes time, and what we are seeing right now, however, sends a worrying signal that the EU might rush into investigations without knowing what they are investigating,” stated Daniel Friedlaender, head of CCIA Europe, in a statement obtained by AFP news agency.

As part of its efforts to comply with the DMA, Google said that it has already made “significant changes” to the way its services operate in Europe, including recent changes to its Google Maps service that have been made to comply with the DMA as well.

The director of Google’s competition department, Oliver Bethell, told The Wall Street Journal that the company will continue to defend its approach in the coming months.

It has been reported that Apple is confident that its decision to allow iPhone users to switch web browsers more easily is a compliance with the DMA, and that the company will continue engaging constructively with the European Commission as they move forward with their investigation.

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