The European Commission said on Monday it has launched an investigation into Meta, Google and Apple to review whether recent measures announced by the three US-based tech giants comply with new EU technology regulations. The committee announced.
The investigation found that companies' new policies on app store rules, presenting options to users, and offering subscriptions are due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), an EU law that came into force earlier this month that regulates designated large technology companies. ), the focus will be on whether it is compliant. As a “gatekeeper.”
The DMA named six gatekeepers, defined by annual revenue and number of monthly active users, which also includes TikTok, Microsoft, and Amazon. The investigation could take up to 12 months, and violations of the law could result in fines of up to 10% of the company's annual global sales, and repeat violations of up to 20%.
The investigation into Apple and Google's parent company Alphabet will examine how the companies have taken steps to mitigate so-called steering rules in app stores, rules that can restrict app developers from showing offers to users outside the app store. Only partially focused. .
The commission said the measures introduced by the companies “impose a range of restrictions and restrictions, including restricting free communication for developers to promote their offers, and therefore may not be fully compliant.” “There is,” he said.
Google is also facing scrutiny over whether its display in search results could lead to it prioritizing its own services, such as Google Flights and Google Shopping, over similar competing services.
The commission said Google's measures to prevent self-prioritization ensure that third-party services included in Google's search results are “treated in a fair and non-discriminatory manner compared to Alphabet's own services.” stated that it may not be guaranteed.
Oliver Bethell, Google's director of competition, said in a statement that the company has “made significant changes to the way we operate our services in Europe.”
“Over the past year, we have participated in dozens of events with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties to receive and respond to feedback and balance competing needs within the ecosystem. We will continue to stick to our approach in the coming months,” Bethel added.
Apple is also facing scrutiny over how it complies with user choice mandates. This mandate allows users to easily uninstall software applications on iOS, easily change default settings, and prompt users to select an alternative default service. This is what the company is required to do.
The commission found that Apple's measures to prevent self-prioritization, such as the layout of its web browser selection screen, may prevent users from “genuinely exercising service choice within Apple's ecosystem.” He said he was concerned about the gender.
An Apple spokesperson said the company is “confident that our plans are DMA-compliant and will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission as it conducts its investigation.”
“Teams across Apple have created a wide range of new developer features, capabilities, and tools to comply with regulations. At the same time, we have created safeguards to help mitigate new risks to the privacy, quality, and security of the EU user experience. “Throughout we have shown flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback,” the spokesperson added.
Facebook's parent company Meta has launched a new optional subscription service that limits targeted advertising as a way to comply with the DMA's requirement that gatekeepers obtain consent when users' personal data is used across different cores. is facing an investigation over its sion-based model. Platform services.
“The Commission finds that the binary imposed by Meta's ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a genuine alternative if users do not consent, and that, as a result, gatekeepers may “We are concerned that the objective of preventing the accumulation of In the announcement.
A spokesperson for Meta said that “subscriptions as an alternative to advertising is an established business model in many industries,” and that Meta has developed the system to address “several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA.” He said he designed it.
“We continue to engage constructively with the commission,” the spokesperson added.
In addition to the violation investigation it began on Monday, the European Commission announced that it has launched “investigative actions” related to Apple's new fee structure for alternative app stores and app distribution from the web (also known as sideloading).
The commission also announced investigative measures to gather facts to determine whether Amazon, another listing gatekeeper, is self-prioritizing private label products in Amazon stores in violation of the DMA. I am teaching.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company complies with the DMA and has “worked constructively with the European Commission regarding our plans since two of our services were designated.”
“We continue to work hard every day to meet the high standards of all our customers within Europe's changing regulatory environment,” the spokesperson added.
Updated at 2:17 p.m. EDT.
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