Europe hits Meta, Apple with €700M in fines for flouting DMA

Meta and Apple have earned the dubious honor of being the first companies fined for non-compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act, which experts say could inflame tensions between US President Donald Trump and the European bloc.

Apple was penalised to the tune of €500 million ($570 million) for violating anti-steering rules and Meta by €200 million ($228 million) for its "consent or pay" ad model, the EU said in a press release.

The fines are a pittance for both firms, whose most recent quarterly earnings statements from January saw Apple report $36.33 billion in net income, and Meta $20.83 billion.

Apple's penalty related to anti-steering violations - for which it's already paid a €1.8 billion penalty to the EU - saw it found guilty of not allowing app developers to direct users outside Apple's own in-app payment system for cheaper alternatives. The European Commission ...