European fines on Apple and Meta “economic blackmail”

On Thursday, the White House described the large fines imposed by the European Union on Meta and Apple for violating the rules of competition as “economic blackmail”, and urged an end to the “malicious” European measures targeting American technology giants.
On Wednesday, she imposed a fine of 500 million euros on Apple after it concluded that it prevented the developers from directing customers outside its “App Store” applications to find cheaper deals.
Meta has also been fined Facebook and Instagram the amount of 200 million euros due to the “payment or approval” system to receive ads, what the Commission considered a violation of the rules related to the use of personal data.

Economic extortion

These fines are the first to be imposed under the European “Digital Markets Law” that entered into force last year, forcing the largest technology companies in the world to open up to competition in the bloc countries.
“The United States will not tolerate this new form of economic extortion,” White House of National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told AFP in a statement Thursday.
He added that this “malicious targeting by the European Union of American companies and consumers must stop,” stressing the position of President Donald Trump’s administration that such measures strengthen “censorship” and constitute “a direct threat to free civil society.”
Although he did not specify any possible reaction by the United States, Hughes said that these procedures will be seen “as barriers to trade”, which indicates that they may be put forward during the upcoming negotiations between the European Union and the United States.