Meaning of "beat down"

Although Apple and Google have said that their contact-tracing apps would limit applications that tried to create a centralised database of contacts, the government has beaten down Apple on its security principles before.

What does beat down mean in the above passage?

'Beat down' is often claimed to be a multi-word verb (many use the term 'phrasal verb'), and there are many senses. Perhaps the most common transitive usage is the metaphorical sense 'get someone to reduce a price [substantially] by hard bargaining'.

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But the Farlex Dictionary of Idioms probably best gives the sense here:

3. To strike something so violently as to cause its collapse [/capitulation]. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "beat" and "down."

So a metaphorical 'beaten into submission'.

The Government has ruled powerfully against such proposed measures.

(I've had to read the related linked article behind the one you quote from, and 'forced the companies to ensure greater privacy safeguards', ie 'got a better 'bargain' for the end-user', might well apply. But a tussle is still involved.)