On the 23rd (local time), the European Union (EU) imposed a total penalty surcharge of more than 1 trillion won on Apple and Meta for violating the so-called "prevent abuse law." This is the first sanction since the full implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in March last year.
The European Commission announced the results of the investigation into DMA violations that day and stated that it would impose a penalty surcharge of 500 million euros (approximately 813.3 billion won) on Apple and 200 million euros (approximately 325.2 billion won) on Meta. It also ordered the companies to correct the violation issues identified in the investigation within 60 days, warning that a separate penalty surcharge would be imposed for noncompliance.
The Commission determined that Apple’s own regulation known as the "anti-steering" clause violated the DMA. App developers are required to inform customers if there are cheaper app purchase options available than the Apple App Store and must allow them to move to other external payment sites, but Apple is said to have blocked this.
Regarding Meta, the Commission criticized the "pay or consent" model introduced in November 2023. According to the Commission, this model effectively forces Facebook and Instagram users who do not pay a service fee to consent to data collection for advertising purposes, thereby violating the DMA.
The DMA, known as the "big tech anti-abuse law," designates seven platform operators, including Apple and Meta, as "gatekeepers" and imposes special regulations to prevent the abuse of market dominance by large platform companies.
In case of violations, a penalty surcharge of up to 10% of global revenue will be imposed. However, the penalty surcharges imposed on Apple and Meta that day are approximately 0.1% of their annual revenues, respectively.