White House slams EU fines on Apple, Meta as ‘extortion’

The White House urged an end to “malicious” European regulations targeting US tech giants [File]
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Large EU fines on Meta and Apple for breaking competition rules amount to “economic extortion,” the White House said, urging an end to “malicious” European regulations targeting US tech giants.

The European Commission on Wednesday fined Apple 500 million euros ($570 million) after concluding the company prevented developers from steering customers outside its App Store to access cheaper deals.

Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta was also fined 200 million euros over its “pay or consent” system after it violated rules on the use of personal data.

The fines are the first under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect last year, forcing the world’s biggest tech firms to open up to competition in the EU.

“This novel form of economic extortion will not be tolerated by the United States,” Brian Hughes, spokesman of the White House National Security Council, told AFP in a statement Thursday.

“The EU’s malicious targeting of American companies and consumers must stop,” he said, reiterating the Trump administration’s position that such regulations “enable censorship” and are a “direct threat to free civil society.”

While not outlining any potential US response, Hughes said the regulations “will be recognized as barriers to trade,” suggesting they may be brought up in upcoming EU-US negotiations.

President Donald Trump launched his steep levies on trading partners, including the European Union, citing the removal of “unfair” non-tariff barriers as one of his goals.

“End the EU’s regulatory death spiral!” Hughes said.