ARTICLE 19 welcomes the European Commission’s decision to issue fines for Apple and Meta for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Today, after months of investigation and a lengthy dialogue with the companies, the European Commission (EC) found that both Apple and Meta are in breach of DMA provisions, and fined them 500 and 200 million euros, respectively.
With its offer of a binary ‘Pay or Consent’ advertising model (which required users to either consent to the processing of their personal data for advertising, or pay a monthly fee for a no-ads version of the service), Meta was found to be in non-compliance with obligations set out in Article 5(2) of the DMA. According to the EC, this binary model ‘did not give users the required specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the ‘personalised ads service’. Moreover, the model did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to Meta’s combining of their personal data held by different services.
Apple was fined for breaching anti-steering obligations as set out in Article 5(4) of the DMA. Apple imposed restrictions on app developers that prevented them from steering users to app stores other than the Apple App Store. In parallel, users were denied the option of accessing better and cheaper offers directly from app developers’ distribution channels.
Maria Luisa Stasi, Head of Law and Policy for Digital Markets at ARTICLE 19 notes: ‘Today’s decisions are a welcome step towards the effective enforcement of the DMA. Particularly welcomed is the fact that both decisions focus on behaviours which deprived users of choice, an essential empowering tool against abuses in heavily concentrated digital markets. Apart from the fines, we look forward to seeing the impact of the cease-and-desist orders on market dynamics.’
ARTICLE 19 has repeatedly expressed our concerns that the flow of information and how people see, read, hear and share information online continues to be controlled by a handful of private companies. This concentration of information power presents a number of serious threats to civic space, fundamental rights and democracy including, inter alia, disinformation and state-backed propaganda, hate speech, the polarisation of opinions, the marginalisation of minority voices, the silencing of dissenting narratives and the limiting of user choice and access to services.
The effective implementation and enforcement of the DMA is one of the most powerful tools to guarantee an open, decentralised, fair and diverse information environment across the EU, for the benefits of businesses and people alike. As such, it should remain a key priority for the European Commission.