(Reuters) -European regulators have launched a series of investigations into Big Tech in recent years.
The European Commission hit Alphabet's Google with a 2.95-billion-euro ($3.45 billion) antitrust fine on September 5 for anti-competitive practices in its lucrative adtech business.
The Commission fined Meta 797.72 million euros in November for abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace.
In September last year, Google won its challenge against a 1.49-billion-euro antitrust fine imposed five years ago for hindering rivals in online search advertising.
A week earlier, Google lost its fight against a 2.42-billion-euro fine by EU antitrust regulators years before for using its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.
On the same day, Apple lost the fight against an order by EU competition regulators to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland, as part of a larger crackdown against sweetheart deals between multinationals and EU countries.
Regulators said in July 2024 that Apple had agreed to open its tap-and-go mobile payments system to rivals to settle an EU antitrust probe.
Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion euros in March 2024 for thwarting competition from music streaming rivals via restrictions on its App Store.
The Commission in June last year charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its chat and video app Teams with its Office product. It is also probing Microsoft's security software practices, a document seen by Reuters showed in February.
DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
Tech companies are required to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms under the EU's Digital Services Act that came into effect last year.
Social media app TikTok was charged by the European Commission in May this year for failing to comply with the DSA's obligation to publish an advertisement repository that allows researchers and users to detect scam advertisements, with its owner ByteDance now at risk of a fine of as much as 6% of its global turnover.
That marked only the second ruling by EU tech regulators following the introduction of the DSA, after Elon Musk's social media network X was charged with breaching its content rules last year.
Meta's Facebook and Instagram are being investigated for potential breaches of EU online content rules relating to child safety, which could lead to hefty fines, the Commission said in May 2024.
DIGITAL MARKETS ACT
The European Union's Digital Markets Act took effect in 2022 with the aim of curbing the power of Big Tech and ensuring a level playing field for smaller rivals.
Apple was fined 500 million euros ($570 million) and Meta 200 million euros under the DMA in April. People with direct knowledge of the matter had in March said the fines would be modest, as the antitrust enforcer was focused on making sure companies comply with the law rather than sanctioning them.
The investigations were part of three probes started by the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition watchdog.
The EC is also investigating Alphabet's Google over possible breaches, and charged Meta in July 2024 for failing to comply with the DMA in its new pay or consent advertising model.
In September 2023, the EU named 22 "gatekeeper" services run by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok-owner ByteDance, giving them six months to comply with the provisions of the DMA.
Meta and TikTok appealed against the gatekeeper status in November 2023, with the latter losing a bid to suspend its designation in February 2024. Apple said in April 2024 it would continue to engage with the Commission to comply with the rules.
EUROPEAN STATES
Individual European countries have also taken actions against Big Tech.
Apple lost an appeal in March against a regulatory assessment that opens it up to stricter controls in Germany, following years of debate over its market position.
Britain's antitrust regulator in September last year provisionally found Google had abused its dominant position in digital advertising to restrict competition. A month earlier, it started probes into its parent Alphabet and Amazon's collaboration with AI startup Anthropic.
Other measures include a fine against Meta in Italy over unfair commercial practices and a French fine against Google for breaching EU intellectual property rules.
A Spanish regulator, meanwhile, opened an investigation into possible anti-competitive behaviour by Apple's App Store in July last year.
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(Compiled by Charlotte Bawol, Alessandro Parodi, Olivier Cherfan, Paolo Laudani, Enrico Sciacovelli and Olga Sawczuk in Gdansk. Editing by Peter Graff, Bernadette Baum, Mark Potter, Rod Nickel)