EU fines Apple 500M euros, Meta 200M euros for breaking competition rules [Video]

European Union watchdogs fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros on Wednesday in two separate cases as they stepped up enforcement of the 27-nation bloc’s digital competition rules.

The European Commission imposed a 500-million euro ($571-million Cdn) fine on Apple for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The commission, which is the EU’s executive arm, also fined Meta Platforms 200 million euros ($315 million) because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing personalized ads or paying to avoid them.

The punishments were smaller than the blockbuster multibillion-euro fines the commission has previously slapped on Big Tech companies in antitrust cases.

Apple and Meta have to comply with the decisions within 60 days or risk unspecified “periodic penalty payments,” the commission said.

The decisions were expected to come in March, but the self-imposed deadline slipped amid an escalating transatlantic …