The European Commission has opened five investigations targeting Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon with regard to its new Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust rules. Under examination are steering practices with regard to Google and Apple and their app stores, potential “self-preferencing” tactics by Google and Amazon, Meta’s “pay or consent” policy for ad targeting, Apple’s compliance with “user choice” obligations, and also its recent App Store price adjustments for third parties. The vetting is expected to last for 12 months. The DMA was adopted in 2022 and goes into force this May.

The companies were alerted as to the EU’s areas of concern and the fact that solutions proposed by the companies do not comply with the DMA rules.

“We will now investigate the companies’ compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe,” EU Executive VP in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said in a news release.

“The Commission has also announced that Meta has been given an additional six months to make Messenger interoperable with other messaging services,” The Verge reports.

“Should our investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeepers could face heavy fines,” EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said in the announcement. “We are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses.”

With regard to so-called anti-steering practices by Apple, and Alphabet’s Google, “under the DMA, tech firms are not allowed to block businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for their products or about subscriptions outside of an app store,” says CNBC.

“Apple has already fallen foul of the EU’s rules” and was this month fined $1.95 billion “after the European Commission said it found that Apple had applied restrictions on app developers that prevented them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.”

Companies that violate the DMA face fines of up to 10 percent of their total worldwide revenue, which can increase to 20 percent for repeat offenses.

The Commission couched its examination of Amazon as additional fact-finding as it seeks “to clarify whether Amazon may be preferencing its own brand products on its e-commerce platform over rivals,” CNBC writes.

Related:
EU Takes Aim at Alphabet, Apple and Meta in Wide-Ranging Investigations, The New York Times, 3/25/24
DOJ Blames Apple for Lack of Super Apps Like WeChat in U.S., Bloomberg, 3/25/24