EU Takes Aim at Big Tech: Meta Charged with Violating Digital Markets Act
The European Commission (EC) has charged Meta with breaching the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) via its new ‘pay or consent’ advertising model. This move is the latest in a series of probes into Big Tech launched by European regulators.
The European Commission takes a stand against Big Tech
The charge announced on Monday follows Meta’s launch of the no-ads subscription service for Facebook and Instagram in Europe last November. The move is seen as a response to the EU’s ruling that Meta must get consent before showing ads to users - a decision that threatened its business model of tailoring ads based on individual users’ online interests and digital activity.
‘We want to empower citizens to be able to take control over their own data and choose a less personalised ads experience,’ EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
However, the EC said that this binary choice does not give users the option to ‘freely consent’ to the combination of their personal data from various Meta-operated sites. It also found in a preliminary investigation that Meta fails to provide them a less personalised but equivalent version of the social networks.
Meta’s advertising model under scrutiny
DMA violations could result in a fine of as much as 10 percent of a company’s global annual turnover. Meta has until March next year to respond to the charges.
The charge against Meta is the latest in a series of EC actions targeting Big Tech, a trend that has accelerated since the DMA came into force in March. The move against the Facebook operator comes a week after the EU watchdog issued its first DMA charge against Apple, claiming that Apple’s App Store rules breach the rules by preventing app developers from steering consumers to alternative offers.
Apple also under fire from the EU
In May, the EC launched an investigation against Meta over Facebook and Instagram child safety, alleging potential breaches of online content rules relating to child safety on its platforms. Meta was also forced to add safety features to its misinformation tracking tool CrowdTangle for use during June’s European Parliament elections, in an attempt to allay EU concerns that triggered an investigation in April into the impact of Meta’s decision to phase out the tool.
CrowdTangle under scrutiny
The EU has named 22 so-called ‘gatekeeper’ services run by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok-owner ByteDance, giving them six months to comply with the DMA provisions. Meta and TikTok appealed against the gatekeeper status in November. TikTok lost that bid in February.
TikTok loses appeal against gatekeeper status
The EU’s actions against Big Tech are a clear indication of its commitment to regulating the industry and protecting user data. As the probes continue, it remains to be seen how these tech giants will respond to the charges and adapt to the new regulations.
The EU takes a stand against Big Tech
