The EU fined Apple and Meta - but failed to really hold them to account. Was that to appease Trump? | Alexander Hurst

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Under the Digital Markets Act, companies that the EU has designated as "gatekeepers" - that is, digital platforms that provide core services such as search engines, app stores and messenger services - have special obligations and constraints that are meant to ensure a fair playing field for other companies.
42% : In this first test, however, the EU decided to dole out a round of fines so wimpy that it might as well have done nothing at all.
39% : It's a missed opportunity The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had some tough words for big tech this week, but it seems that at the last minute, the EU lost its nerve.
39% : In effect, the EU knocked 46 hours off of Apple's year of profit, and shortened Meta's year by 28 hours.
33% : The EU might think that by soft-pedalling, it is protecting Europeans from the potential economic impact of angering the Trump administration by handing down deterrent-level fines to his allies, but that's wrong.

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