The European Union on Monday opened a non-compliance investigation into Apple, Alphabet and Facebook’s parent Meta Platform, under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Alphabet and Apple were probed on anti-steering rules as the two tech giants still charge various recurring fees even under the new DMA that bars tech firms from not allowing businesses to notify their users about cheaper options for their products or about other services and subscriptions outside of an app store.
“Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s ‘pay or consent model’,” the Commission said in a statement.
A week ago, Apple was fined $1.95 billion by the European Commission for applying restrictions on app developers in its App Store from informing its users about other music subscription services that were available outside of the app.
Meanwhile, Meta was probed on its so-called “pay and consent” that offers its European users an ad-free experience with a subscription, while also requiring users to give consent to terms and conditions for the service.
