In the "latest example of European authorities cracking down on the world's largest tech companies," European Union regulators on Monday accused Apple of breaking antitrust laws by unfairly boxing out competitors of its Apple Pay payment service, The New York Times reports.
Per the European Commission, Apple has "abused its dominance in consumer electronics" by not allowing companies like PayPal to access the Apple Pay technology in the iPhone and Apple Watch, the Times writes.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice president in charge of antitrust enforcement, announced Monday's charges, which followed an investigation that began back in 2020. Apple will be allowed to respond before the executive body shares a final judgment.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Mobile payments play a rapidly growing role in our digital economy," Vestager said in a statement. "We have indications that Apple restricted third-party access to key technology necessary to develop rival mobile wallet solutions on Apple's devices."
Apple said Monday that its policies do not limit competition, per the Times.
"We will continue to engage with the commission to ensure European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment," the tech giant wrote in a statement.
Apple is now facing a possible fine of up to 10 percent of its global revenues. It may also end up reaching a deal with regulators, the Times notes.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check lawSpeed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestoneSpeed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two yearsSpeed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on XSpeed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellitesSpeed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodesSpeed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
