Apple, Meta got slapped by new EU tech rules

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER European Commission fine against Big Tech — a phenomenon Silicon Valley views as little more than a speeding ticket. But Wednesday's modest penalties against Apple and Meta Platforms, totalling €700 million ($798 million), belie a more meaningful smackdown by the continent's antitrust regulator that could force them to rewire their business models.

- PARMY OLSON Bloomberg

Assuming the Trump administration pays more attention to the headline numbers than the fine print, the commission may have cleverly threaded the needle: avoid provoking Trump as he threatens tariffs, while forcing Silicon Valley giants to change their behaviour.

Apple, for instance, can't just pay the fine and go back to doing business as usual. The commission says it breached the rule that requires app developers to inform their users about how to make purchases outside of Apple's App Store without any further fees or restrictions. Now it's been ordered to let iPhone users in the EU install apps from sources outside the App Store, access alternative payment methods, and connect iPhones more easily with non-Apple devices and services. That creates a fracture in Apple's tightly controlled walled garden.