Facebook Attacks iOS ‘App Tax’ & Accuses Apple of Hurting Businesses

Facebook accuses Apple of being an evil mega-corporation over its refusal to alter a long-standing policy. It’s ironic, but Facebook has a point.

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Facebook is embroiled in a public battle with Apple, accusing the company of hurting small businesses with its iOS App Store policies. This isn’t the first time the companies have had a public dispute, not attempted to expose the other as an unscrupulous entity, but this particular conflict could have financial ramifications. The spat joins a long list of corporation-on-corporation, app-marketplace-based disputes this week.

Apple makes most of its App Store revenue from a 30% fee it attaches to transactions on its marketplace. That flat rate comes out of both apps that require payment to install, and apps or services that feature in-app purchases. The Android equivalent, Google’s Play Store, makes its money the same way. These fees are currently being brought to light as part of the ongoing Fortnite vs. Apple and Google legal battle, in which the popular game’s developer, Epic Games, altered its in-game purchasing system to circumvent app marketplace fees.

Facebook’s involvement comes from the company’s new paid video service feature. The social media giant just launched its first trial run of a system through which Facebook users can charge a fee for access to their public live streams. Since this would technically be an in-app purchase, Apple feels Facebook should have to pay its 30% fee. Bloomberg reports that Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, stated the company only elected to publicly shame Apple over the policy because the paid live stream feature is intended to help small businesses generate profits during COVID-19-induced isolation.

Facebook May Have the Moral High Ground

It’s easy to cynically doubt that Facebook dragged this fight with Apple out into the public entirely based on the negative consequences such a charge could have on small businesses. However, Simo says Facebook won’t be taking a cut of any revenue businesses generate with the paid stream feature. If that’s true, this really is a case of Apple attempting to pinch people for 30% of their income. And, for what it’s worth, Google is allowing the system to work without an additional fee so long as the payments are processed through Facebook’s payment systems. Sure, the money to pay the fee would come out of Facebook’s pockets (the company wouldn’t get away with passing those costs on to only iOS users), but it does appear its intentions are pure this time.

That said, this is a complicated situation. The paid stream service is designed (partially, at least) so Yoga studios, seminars, or courses with pages on Facebook can continue to operate online now that social distancing complicates those endeavors. That means, prior to the pandemic, Apple wouldn’t have made a dime off of these businesses anyway. Its refusal to waive these fees can easily be construed as an attempt to profit off of a public health crisis. There’s very little that can be done about this problem through legal means, unless someone can make a compelling antitrust argument, so the hope is Apple will suddenly change course.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/facebook-versus-apple-live-streaming-fee/