Facebook's Latest Pot Shot At Apple: Hope EU Legislation Will 'Set Boundaries' For iPhone Maker

Facebook Inc FB fired a salvo at Apple Inc AAPL, saying it hopes the latest European Union draft rules on reigning in powers of tech giants sets limits for the latter, Reuters reported Tuesday.

What Happened: The Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant reportedly pointed to the draft Digital Markets Act, which targets large companies and is aimed at forcing them to stop favoring their own services on their platforms, in its attack on Apple.

“We hope the DMA will also set boundaries for Apple,” a Facebook spokesman said, adding that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant “controls an entire ecosystem from device to app store and apps,” Reuters reported.

The Facebook representative claimed that Apple uses its powers to “harm developers and consumers, as well as large platforms like Facebook.”

Apple recently announced a privacy related feature that allows users to block advertisers across third-party applications, which Facebook said would cut deep into its revenues. The iPhone maker retorted, “when invasive tracking is your business model, you tend not to welcome transparency and customer choice.”

Why It Matters: This week, Apple rolled out new privacy labels and also labeled Facebook’s primary social networking app, CNBC reported.

The app’s label detail page is akin to a tome and gives an impression that the social networking giant is collecting a trove of data.

In September, Facebook had snitched on Apple’s antitrust behavior to the EU as a part of a consultative process on another piece of proposed legislation.

Apple Senior Vice President Craig Federighi hit out at the adtech industry this month  while addressing the European Data Protection & Privacy Conference and warned of “Shadowy actors,” who he said, “work to infiltrate the most intimate parts of your life.”

Price Action: Apple shares closed nearly 5% higher at $127.88 on Tuesday and fell 0.24% in the after-hours session. On the same day, Facebook shares closed 0.5% higher at $275.55 and fell 0.38% in the after-hours session.