EU Regulators Double Down: Tech Giants Face Unprecedented Crackdown in 2025

Brussels draws blood—again. The EU's regulatory hammer just swung harder at Big Tech, with fresh antitrust raids and compliance ultimatums hitting Silicon Valley's elite.

Why now? Because nothing motivates bureaucrats like fiscal year-end targets.

Behind the curtain: This isn't about 'fair competition'—it's about control. And maybe a little revenge for all those tax loopholes the tech titans exploited while European startups starved.

The fallout? More legal circus acts, more compliance theater... and absolutely zero chance these trillion-dollar juggernauts will actually change their playbooks.

EU regulators enforce broader crackdown against giant tech firms 

EU regulators may levy daily fines against Meta Platforms if they determine that the changes the company proposed to its pay-or-consent model do not meet an antitrust order issued in April.

The warning from the European Commission, the EU’s competition enforcer, came two months after it hit the US social media giant with a 200-million-euro fine, worth $234 million, for breaking the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation is designed to limit the influence of major technology companies. 

According to the Commission, Meta’s original pay-or-consent model, launched in November 2023, breached the DMA by relying heavily on personal data for targeted ads. Although the company modified the model in November 2024 to reduce data usage, regulators still assess whether those changes go far enough.

The model offers Facebook and Instagram users a free service, as long as they agree to be tracked; the service is paid for out of advertising revenues. Alternatively, they can pay for a service without ads.

Meanwhile, daily fines for failing to comply with the DMA amount to up to 5% of a company’s average daily worldwide turnover.

The action reveals the Commission’s broader crackdown against Big Tech and its ambitions to level the playing field for smaller rivals, even if the United States has accused the bloc’s rules of being directed primarily against its companies.

The EU competition watchdog said that Meta is expected to make only limited changes to its pay-or-consent model.

EU watchdog claims DMA applies equally to all giant tech firms operating in the EU

The European Commission’s action towards Meta raises concerns in the tech ecosystem. Following Meta’s claims that the Commission is treating them unfairly and changing the requirements during discussions over the past two months, a Meta spokesperson stepped up to explain this.

Based on the spokesperson’s argument, a choice for users between a subscription with no ads or a free service supported by ads is a valid business model for every company in Europe, except for Meta.

In response, the EU watchdog rejected Meta’s discrimination claims, stating that the DMA applies equally to all large digital companies operating in the EU, regardless of their home country or who owns them. 

A commission spokesperson elaborated on this, stating that they have always enforced their laws fairly and will keep doing so without bias against any company working in the EU, fully complying with international regulations.

At the time, the Commission could not say if these measures were enough to meet the key compliance standards mentioned in its non-compliance decision.

“Keeping this in mind, we will look at the next steps, which include noting that ongoing non-compliance could lead to periodic penalty payments starting from June 27, 2025, as mentioned in the non-compliance decision,” the spokesperson added.

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