European authorities have in recent years expanded scrutiny of the largest technology platforms, pursuing antitrust probes, monetary penalties, and compliance investigations under newly enacted digital rules. Below is a company-by-company account of the actions European regulators have taken, as reported.
Alphabet
The European Commission said in December it had opened an antitrust probe into whether Alphabet’s Google was violating EU competition rules in how it uses online content from web publishers and content from YouTube for artificial intelligence purposes. Earlier enforcement actions include a 2.95-billion-euro antitrust fine imposed on Google by the Commission on September 5 for anti-competitive practices in its adtech operations.
In September 2024, Google successfully challenged a 1.49-billion-euro antitrust fine that had been imposed over allegations of hindering rivals in online search advertising. However, the company lost a separate appeal a week earlier against a 2.42-billion-euro fine by EU antitrust regulators that dated from earlier enforcement related to the use of its own price comparison shopping service to gain an advantage over smaller European competitors.
At the same time, Britain’s antitrust regulator provisionally found in September 2024 that Google had abused a dominant position in digital advertising to limit competition. In August of that period, the British regulator began probes into the relationships between Alphabet and Amazon with AI startup Anthropic.
France’s competition authority also fined Google 250 million euros in March 2024 for breaches tied to EU intellectual property rules in its dealings with media publishers.
Amazon
Germany’s cartel office issued a prohibition preventing Amazon from imposing price caps on online retailers in its German marketplace. The same authority claimed several million euros that it said the U.S. company had obtained through anti-competitive behaviour. Separately, the European Union’s General Court dismissed in November a request by Amazon to remove its designation as a platform subject to stricter requirements under EU online content rules.
Apple
Italian competition regulators fined Apple and two of its divisions 98.6 million euros in December for alleged abuse of dominance in the mobile app market. A complaint was lodged with EU antitrust authorities by two civil rights groups in October 2025 over the terms and conditions of Apple’s App Store and devices.
In the same month, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority designated Apple and Google as holding "strategic market status," a classification that grants the regulator powers to demand specific changes. Under the Digital Markets Act, Apple was fined 500 million euros in April 2025, with Meta receiving a 200 million euro penalty as well.
Apple lost an appeal in March 2025 against a regulatory assessment that subjects it to stricter controls in Germany. Earlier enforcement included a September 2024 loss in a fight over an EU order for Apple to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland as part of investigations into preferential arrangements. Regulators reported in July 2024 that Apple had agreed to allow rivals access to its tap-and-go mobile payments system to settle an EU antitrust probe. Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion euros in March 2024 for actions that regulators said impeded competition from music streaming rivals.
Meta
The European Commission opened an antitrust investigation into Meta in December focusing on AI-enabled features within the WhatsApp messaging service. Meta was fined 797.72 million euros in November 2024 for practices that regulators said improperly advantaged Facebook Marketplace. In July 2024 the company faced charges that it failed to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the launch of a new advertising model that required users to pay or consent to targeted adverts.
Microsoft
In June 2024 the European Commission charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its Teams chat and video application with the Office productivity suite, bringing antitrust scrutiny to the company’s product integration practices.
TikTok
EU tech regulators charged TikTok on February 6 with breaching online content rules because of features regulators described as potentially addictive, and warned it may need to alter its design or face fines. The European Commission said in October 2025 that TikTok and Meta had, according to preliminary findings, breached obligations to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act. Earlier, TikTok was charged in May with failing to comply with the DSA’s obligation to publish an advertisement repository that would enable researchers and users to detect scam advertisements; it avoided a fine after offering transparency concessions.
X
Spain’s government directed prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok for alleged dissemination of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, a move announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on February 17. On the same day Ireland opened a formal investigation into X’s AI chatbot Grok. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, as the lead EU regulator for X, initiated inquiries because the company’s European Union operations are based in Ireland. The European Commission said on January 26 that Grok would be investigated over whether it disseminates illegal content such as manipulated sexualised images in the EU.
French police carried out a raid on X’s offices on February 3 and prosecutors ordered Elon Musk to be questioned in an expanding investigation. In December, EU tech regulators fined X 120 million euros for breaching online content rules, marking the first sanction imposed under the Digital Services Act.
Implications
European regulators have deployed antitrust enforcement, fines under the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, and criminal inquiries in response to a range of alleged behaviours by major platforms. The measures span advertising markets, the design of platforms and apps, data access obligations for researchers, online content moderation and alleged abusive commercial practices.
Currency conversion noted in prior reporting used a rate of $1 = 0.8528 euros.