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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.
The regulatory authority is accusing Apple of making its privacy policy more restrictive for third-party developers than for itself.
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.
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.
