European regulators have intensified their scrutiny of major technology companies, launching a series of investigations and enforcement actions focused on antitrust, privacy, and online safety across the continent.
The European Court of Justice on July 2 upheld a €4.1 billion antitrust fine against Alphabet’s Google, largely affirming conclusions that the company leveraged its Android mobile operating system to restrict competition. The original penalty, imposed by the European Commission in 2018, was slightly reduced by a lower court in 2022. Over the past decade, Google has faced nearly €11 billion in EU antitrust fines. In December, the Commission also opened a fresh antitrust probe into whether Google is violating competition rules by using publishers’ content and YouTube material to advance its artificial intelligence projects. Separately, Google won an appeal in September 2024 against a €1.49 billion fine related to online search advertising but lost an appeal against a €2.42 billion penalty concerning its shopping comparison service. Meanwhile, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered Google in June to increase transparency regarding its search rankings and allow publishers the option to exclude their content from AI features.
Amazon has also faced increasing regulatory pressure. Italy’s privacy authority ordered an Amazon unit in February to cease using personal data from over 1,800 warehouse workers near Rome. Germany’s competition watchdog prohibited Amazon from enforcing price caps on retailers in its marketplace and sought to recover profits stemming from alleged anti-competitive behavior. Additionally, in November, the EU General Court dismissed Amazon’s challenge to its designation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which subjects the company to stricter obligations.
Apple has been targeted with numerous actions, including a €98.6 million fine by Italy’s competition authority in December for alleged abuse of dominance in the mobile apps market. The European Commission imposed a €500 million fine on Apple in April 2025 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and Germany’s Federal Court of Justice upheld a regulatory designation that subjects Apple to tighter competition rules. Britain’s CMA designated Apple and Google as companies with “strategic market status” in October 2025, granting the authority expanded powers to regulate their conduct. The European Court of Justice upheld a €13 billion tax order against Apple in Ireland in September 2024. Earlier in 2024, Apple agreed to allow rivals access to its tap-and-go mobile payments technology to resolve antitrust concerns, while Brussels fined the company €14.8 billion over restrictions limiting competition in music streaming.
Meta Platforms faced significant penalties as well. EU regulators fined Facebook and Meta €797.7 million in November 2024 for practices favoring Facebook Marketplace and charged the company in July 2024 with breaching DMA rules through its advertising “pay or consent” model.
In the United Kingdom, the CMA announced in March an investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem, including licensing practices related to cloud computing. Microsoft avoided a large EU fine by agreeing in September to provide sufficient researcher access to public data as mandated by the DSA. TikTok faced charges in May 2025 for failing to comply with DSA advertising transparency requirements but averted fines by offering concessions.
Lastly, the European Commission announced in January it was investigating X, formerly Twitter, over its AI chatbot Grok, amid concerns it might have violated AI safety regulations.
These coordinated regulatory efforts underscore the growing focus across Europe on holding technology giants accountable for competitive practices, data privacy, and online safety in an evolving digital landscape.