European Union watchdogs fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros Wednesday as they stepped up enforcement of the 27-nation bloc’s digital competition rules. The European Commission imposed a 500 million euro ($571 million) fine on Apple for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The European Union on Wednesday fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros each for breaching the bloc's digital competition laws. Officials said that Apple failed to comply with so-called "anti-steering" obligations under the Digital Markets Act.

The European Union has fined Apple and Meta a combined €700 million ($797 million) in the first enforcement of its landmark digital competition law.