International

EU Launches Probe into Tech Giants for Digital Market Act Violations

The European Commission has initiated an investigation against Apple, Alphabet, and Meta due to their failure to adhere to the new law governing digital giants, known as the Digital Market Act.

This marks the first occasion when the executive branch of Brussels has officially undertaken the task of verifying whether these companies comply with European standards. Specifically, the Commission will have to evaluate whether Apple and Google (owned by Alphabet holding) permit developers to redirect users to their own app stores, which serve as alternatives to those of the American giants.

It will be necessary to verify whether Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) genuinely provides users with adequate choices regarding the utilisation of their personal data for advertising purposes. For months, Brussels has been in dialogue with American tech giants.

The Commission aimed to scrutinise their strategies for complying with the regulations that took effect in early March. "Changes in the market are already observable. However, we remain unconvinced that the solutions put forth by Alphabet, Apple, and Meta fulfil their obligations," stated Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Digital, on Monday.

The EU aims to open digital markets, safeguard the creation and expansion of startups in Europe, and enhance the choices available to users. This is precisely the goal of the DMA, which has identified a dozen technology firms whose dominance hinders the emergence of viable market alternatives.

The European executive aims to conclude proceedings against them within a maximum of 12 months. Furthermore, the Commission is launching an investigation against Alphabet, suspected of leveraging its virtual monopoly on the Google search engine to promote its price comparison services with superior listings.

Those affected in this scenario would likely be competitors searching for hotels, plane tickets, or other consumer goods available online. Google was already fined €2.4 billion in 2017. However, the suggested remedies have never been deemed satisfactory by Brussels.

Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition at the European Commission, clarified that, currently, the investigation has been initiated against certain companies. However, she emphasised, "it does not imply that other groups are not implicated if critical issues emerge." Vestager stated that the investigation "is anticipated to conclude within 12 months."

Translation by Iurie Tataru

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