Meta, Apple fined 700 million euros for violating EU antitrust rules

LONDON (Reuters) -European Union regulators on Wednesday imposed fines on Apple and Meta totalling 700 million euros ($877 million) for violating new antitrust rules, the first sanctions under landmark legislation aimed at curbing Big Tech's power.

Here is some reaction to the penalties:

APPLE IN AN EMAILED STATEMENT:

"Today's announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free."

META IN AN EMAILED STATEMENT:

"The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.

"This isn't just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model, effectively imposing a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service."    

"FORTNITE" MAKER EPIC GAMES CEO TIM SWEENEY: 

"Great news for app developers worldwide! (...) Today's decision benefits all developers - European developers and American developers alike. It highlights the need for America to similarly pass the Open App Markets Act to bring competition back to digital markets. 

"Lobbyists and shills funded by American Big Tech had better not misportray Europe's modest fine for Apple's lawbreaking as a "European tax on American companies". To do so would be to try to gaslight the administration into a trade war to protect Apple's lawlessness."

ANDREAS AUDRETSCH, DEPUTY PARLIAMENTARY LEADER OF GREEN PARTY IN GERMAN FEDERAL PARLIAMENT:

"The fines (...) are clearly too low. The Commission should have taken tougher action; in previous proceedings, the Commission had imposed significantly higher fines in the billions. 

"There must be no doubt that the Commission is prepared to exhaust all legal means to enforce European law. This is particularly important at a time when Donald Trump and U.S. tech oligarchs are deliberately trying to undermine European law.

"There must be no subjugation of Europe. If Apple and Meta let the 60-day deadline pass without paying the fines, further steps must be taken."

COMPUTER & COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (CCIA) EUROPE'S SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF OFFICE DANIEL FRIEDLAENDER: 

"The DMA’s (Digital Markets Act) credibility is being weakened by its unpredictable enforcement and shifting demands, combined with sweeping product-design mandates from the European Commission that disrupt the user experience and limit EU businesses' ability to reach consumers."

"(...) The DMA has become highly politicised, and could even force some companies to provide services at a loss. There is a huge opportunity for regulatory simplification in Europe – so far, however, the DMA decisions are going in the opposite direction."

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVACY PROFESSIONALS' (IAPP) DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH & INSIGHTS JOE JONES:

"The fines land at a time of heightened scrutiny by the current U.S. Administration on the application of EU laws to U.S. companies.

"(...) Open questions include not only how will addressed companies respond to EU regulatory enforcement but how will overseas governments, including and especially the U.S., respond. The U.S. Administration has declared it will consider responsive actions like tariffs to combat certain foreign government policies levied against U.S. companies.

"The EU’s digital rulebook not only has grown in size but has grown more complex as well as robust in its application, with fines and corrective measures being imposed.

EUROPEAN CONSUMER GROUP BEUC DIRECTOR GENERAL AGUSTIN REYNA:

"Today’s decisions are important to show Big Tech that if they choose to operate on the EU's Single Market they must play by our rules.

"Apple and Meta have had ample time to comply with the (DMA) but instead have delayed compliance and tried to twist the rules to their advantage. Consumers deserve better choices, and businesses need fairer market conditions in digital markets, so the Commission must enforce the law.

"The (DMA) is a gamechanger in terms of opening up digital markets to more competition. The Commission must enforce the (law) effectively so that gatekeepers comply with all its provisions and consumers can reap the benefits of more and better choice in digital services."

RASMUS ANDRESEN, BUDGET AND FINANCIAL SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GREENS/EFA IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:

"It is a long-overdue and important step that the EU Commission is finally using its regulatory power to rein in the U.S. tech giants. 

"(...) With this action, Europe is sending a clear signal: the digital internal market is not a lawless space for billion-dollar tech companies. It is about fairness, real competition, and the protection of consumer rights and small businesses.

"Trump’s calls for an end to EU tech regulation are extremely dangerous. It is good that the EU Commission is responding with the application of legislation. We decide on our own rules.

"But competition rules alone are not enough. We also need consistent and fair taxation of tech companies. It is unacceptable that an entire industry makes massive profits while simultaneously avoiding its responsibilities to society. The EU Commission should finally present a proposal to fairly tax the large tech companies in Europe."

GERMAN ECONOMY MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON:

"More competition in the European Union benefits not only consumers, but also all European, as well as non-European, SMEs and start-ups."

($1 = 0.8773 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels, Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholmm and Holger Hansen and Miranda Murray in Berlin;Compiled by Josephine Mason; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )