After Epic Games, Now It Is Facebook's Turn To Go Against Apple's Policy

Ilustrasi Facebook (Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Facebook is now joining the fight against Apple. The social media giant has accused Apple of harming small businesses by levying a long-standing 30 percent in-app tax.

The allegations come one day after Epic Games, maker of video game Fortnite, took Apple to court. Because removing the Fortnite game from the App Store.

This resistance comes as Facebook unveils a new set of features and services for small businesses. Where Facebook is attracting users from all over the world to attend online events held by small businesses.

Commission comparison on iOS and Android (doc. Techcrunch)

"To support small businesses and creators, Facebook will not be charging any paid online events for at least the next year. For transactions on the web, and on Android in the countries where we launch Facebook Pay, small businesses will keep 100 percent of the revenue they generate. from paid online events, "said the head of Facebook application, Fidji Simo, as quoted from TechCrunch, Saturday, August 15.

Unfortunately, Apple doesn't allow the social media application to independently collect payment fees for iOS users. Where each rate will be subject to a 30 percent commission tax. Where Google does not charge any fees from the event held by Facebook on the Android platform.

"We asked Apple to reduce the App Store tax by 30 percent or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so that we can cover all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19. Unfortunately, they rejected our requests and SMEs will only be paid 70 percent of their revenue that is. earned hard, "said Simo.

It is known that the fees that Apple charges through its app stores have been criticized for years, but ongoing anti-trust investigations in the United States (US) and Europe have made it a very sensitive topic for the iPhone maker.

Most development companies ask Apple not to tax too large a commission from each application transaction. Not only Facebook or Fortnite games, Apple has also been criticized by the music streaming service Spotify for having too much of a monopoly.