EU Top Court Upholds Antitrust Fine Against Google

Brussels (ANTARA) - The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday upheld an antitrust fine of 4.125 billion euros (1 euro = Rp20,480), equivalent to 4.7 billion US dollars (1 US dollar = Rp17,961), imposed on Google for abusive practices related to its Android mobile operating system. The ruling rejected an appeal by Google and its parent company Alphabet against a previous decision by the EU’s General Court, which confirmed that the American technology giant had abused its dominant market position through restrictions related to Android. The CJEU ruled that the General Court had correctly assessed the anti-competitive impact of Google’s practices. The CJEU found that pre-installation requirements and anti-fragmentation agreements could restrict competition and strengthen Google’s dominant position within the Android ecosystem. The case originated from a 2018 European Commission decision, which found that Google had required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser as a condition for licensing certain Android applications. The European Commission also found that Google’s anti-fragmentation agreements restricted the development of alternative Android versions, thereby limiting competition. The European Commission initially imposed a fine of 4.34 billion euros, equivalent to 4.94 billion US dollars. In 2022, the EU General Court partially annulled one aspect of that decision concerning certain revenue-sharing agreements, but upheld the Commission’s core findings and reduced the fine to 4.125 billion euros. The CJEU also rejected Google’s argument that its actions were objectively justified and upheld the General Court’s ruling regarding the recalculation of the fine amount.