The EU investigates the Big Three US tech companies such as Apple, Alphabet’s Google, and Meta

The European Union launched investigations into US tech giants Apple, Alphabet, and Meta on Monday under the newly passed Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Examining whether Meta, the parent company of Google, has a monopoly

According to the European Commission, the investigation targets include whether the parent company of Google, Alphabet, has monopoly rules for redirecting in the online store Google Play (that is, whether to allow developers to guide users to cheaper options outside the online store), as well as the issue of Google Search prioritizing its own; Apple’s redirect rules for the online store App Store, and whether to provide an option other than Safari browser; and Meta’s “payment or consent” model, that is, whether users need to pay for a subscription to an ad-free service, otherwise it is equivalent to agreeing to the terms and rules of the free service, which constitutes unfairness.

At the press conference, EU antitrust commissioner Vestager (Margrethe Vestager) said that if any “gatekeeper” (Gatekeeper) attempts to circumvent or undermine the rules of the DMA, it will continue to use all tools to check and balance. A gatekeeper refers to a large tech company that needs to comply with the EU DMA regulations.

The European Commission said it plans to complete the investigation within 12 months, but Vestager emphasized that the DMA does not set a deadline for the investigation. The regulatory agency will notify the investigated companies of the preliminary investigation results and explain the measures it is taking or the measures that the gatekeeper should take to allay the commission’s concerns. If any company is found to be in violation of the DMA, the commission can impose a fine of up to 10% of the global revenue of the tech company; if it violates the regulations repeatedly, the fine can be increased to 20%.