The European Commission has opened an investigation into Apple, Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) because it suspects that they are not complying with the Digital Markets Act, the new antitrust law with which Brussels wants to control the market power of the large platforms.

Specifically, it believes that Apple and Alphabet have not taken effective measures to allow mobile app developers to freely communicate with their customers to offer them deals outside of the app stores of these two companies (the App Store and Google Play) and without having to pay them a fee.

It also believes that Alphabet continues to prioritise its own search services on Google over those of its competitors, for example in ‘Google Shopping’, ‘Google Flights’ and ‘Google Hotels’.

The Commission also doubts whether the changes Apple has introduced to comply with the regulations will allow users to easily uninstall the mobile applications that the company installs by default on their devices in order to search for alternatives, for example, to the Safari browser.

As for Meta, Brussels is investigating the payment alternative it has given to its customers who do not want the company to combine their personal data between its different platforms, as it believes it is not offering them a real alternative to guarantee their privacy.

Brussels intends to conclude the investigation within 12 months. If the investigation confirms its suspicions, Brussels will explain what measures they should take or what the Commission itself will take, which could involve a fine of 10% of their global turnover or 20% if they repeatedly infringe the rules.