Apple, Meta fined by EU, told to comply with competition rules

The European Union fined Apple and Meta Platforms hundreds of millions of dollars and ordered the companies to comply with the bloc's tech rules, a move that risks ratcheting up tensions with the Trump administration as EU officials pursue trade talks.

- Kim Mackrael & Sam Schechner

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, on Wednesday slapped Apple with a 500 million euro fine, equivalent to about $570 million. It fined Meta €200 million.

The commission also issued cease-and-desist orders against both companies, which target business practices that are an important part of their revenue streams, and could have a bigger impact than the fines.

It ordered Apple to remove what it said were technical and commercial restrictions on app developers' ability to inform users about cheaper and alternative ways to buy digital products outside the company's App Store.