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EU Reassesses Tech Probes Into Apple, Google, and Meta Amid Regulatory Review

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The European Commission is reevaluating its ongoing investigations into tech giants Apple, Meta, and Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to a report by the Financial Times on Tuesday. The review comes as the implications of U.S. President-elect Trump’s upcoming presidency have reportedly added a new dimension to the regulatory scrutiny.

Sources cited by the Financial Times clarified that Trump’s election victory did not directly trigger the review but is being considered in its context. The ongoing reassessment could result in changes to the scope or intensity of investigations launched since March 2024 under the DMA, the EU’s stringent framework designed to curb market dominance by major tech platforms. This legislation allows for penalties of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue for violations.

While technical work on the cases will proceed, decisions and potential fines have been paused until the review concludes. Regulators are said to be awaiting political guidance before making final determinations regarding the cases against Apple, Meta, and Google.

The DMA, which took effect in 2022, aims to ensure a level playing field for smaller competitors and to curtail monopolistic practices by Big Tech companies. However, the review’s outcome could reshape how the regulations are enforced.

Meanwhile, Meta recently announced it would discontinue its U.S. fact-checking program as part of a broader overhaul of its content moderation strategies, potentially signaling a shift in approach under CEO Mark Zuckerberg to align more closely with the incoming U.S. administration.

Additionally, Bloomberg News reported that the EU may expand its investigations to include allegations against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, for potentially breaching EU content moderation rules.

Apple, Meta, Google, and the European Commission have not yet commented on the review or related developments.

 

Russian Court Fines Google $78 Million for Ignoring Previous Penalties

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A Moscow court fined Alphabet’s Google 8 billion roubles ($77.9 million) on Tuesday for failing to comply with earlier penalty orders, as announced by the Moscow courts press service via Telegram. This fine is significantly higher than the typical fines of around 4 million roubles that are usually issued for such violations.

For years, Russia has pressured foreign technology companies to remove content it considers illegal, imposing incremental penalties for non-compliance. The Chertanovo District Court in Moscow stated that the latest fine was related to Google’s failure to comply with an administrative punishment, though it did not disclose specifics about the violation.

YouTube, owned by Google, has been a frequent target of criticism from Russian authorities. Once drawing approximately 50 million daily users in Russia, YouTube’s audience has reportedly dropped to around 12 million. Russian officials have accused Google of failing to upgrade equipment, allegedly leading to disruptions in YouTube’s download speeds. Critics argue that these disruptions are intentional efforts to hinder access to content critical of President Vladimir Putin’s government—an allegation Russia denies.

In December, President Putin accused Google of acting as a tool of the U.S. government for political gain. Google has not yet commented on the latest ruling.

UK Competition Watchdog to Investigate Google Search Services

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The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Tuesday that it will use newly acquired regulatory powers to investigate Google’s search services. The investigation will examine how these services affect consumers, businesses, advertisers, and competitors, following growing U.S. calls for regulatory action against the tech giant.

The CMA emphasized that search is crucial for economic growth, with millions of consumers and over 200,000 UK businesses relying on Google’s search and advertising services. Google dominates the search market with 90% of searches in the UK taking place on its platform. The CMA’s role, according to its CEO Sarah Cardell, is to ensure fair competition in the sector, allowing consumers to fully benefit from choice and innovation.

Responding to the investigation, Google’s competition director, Oliver Bethell, pointed out the CMA’s acknowledgment of the sector’s importance for growth. Google plans to engage with the CMA to explain how its services benefit consumers and businesses, while also highlighting potential drawbacks of overly prescriptive regulations. Bethell stressed the importance of a balanced regulatory approach that fosters innovation and consumer choice.

This move comes in the wake of pressure from U.S. prosecutors, who in November argued that Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser and make search results and data available to competitors. In the U.S., a judge ruled in August that Google had violated antitrust laws, having spent billions to become the default search engine worldwide.

In the UK, Google is already facing scrutiny from the CMA in relation to the cloud computing market, alongside Amazon and Microsoft, as well as its dominance in mobile browsers in collaboration with Apple. The CMA is empowered by new regulations to designate companies with Strategic Market Status (SMS), allowing for in-depth investigations of firms like Google.

The CMA’s investigation will assess whether Google holds SMS in both search and search advertising markets. It will also explore if Google’s market dominance leads to preferential treatment for its own services, as well as the potential barriers to entry and innovation in the sector. Additionally, the watchdog will look into how Google handles consumer data.

The rise of AI-powered search engines, like ChatGPT, poses a long-term challenge to Google’s market dominance. The CMA will also consider whether Google is using its influence to shape the development of new AI services and interfaces to mitigate these emerging competitors. The investigation, which could last up to nine months, may lead to regulatory interventions such as requiring Google to share data with other businesses or allowing publishers more control over how their content is used in Google’s AI services.