Italy

Italian Regulators Start Apple Antitrust Probe

MAY 11 2023·Updated MAY 12 2023

Story

Image credit: Yves Herman

The Facts

Italy’s antitrust agency revealed on Thursday that it has begun a probe into Apple’s alleged abuse of its prominence in the app market.
Reuters
The regulatory authority is accusing Apple of making its privacy policy more restrictive for third-party developers than for itself.
The Associated Press
Apple is also accused of making it harder for third-party apps to get users to opt-in to tracking as well as monitoring the success of ad campaigns.
Forbes
In a statement, Apple denied the charges, saying it applies its privacy rules "equally to all developers, including Apple.”
Reuters
European regulators have previously focused attention on antitrust violations by Meta, Amazon, and Google parent company Alphabet. Apple has faced scrutiny for the way it manages what can be used and installed on its wide range of popular devices.
Forbes

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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CRIT

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Ever since allowing app-tracking transparency, Apple has come under fire worldwide for potentially tilting the scales in its favor. Beyond this Italian probe, there should be a far-reaching EU-wide investigation of Apple’s squashing of competition, which harms current developers’ bottom line and could hamper future innovation.

TechCrunch

Narrative B

Apple will continue to work with Italian regulators to address any of its concerns. In reality, it’s unlikely Apple is doing anything untoward considering it could be facing a fine of 10% of its profits if found to have abused its market dominance under EU competition law.