Some experts predict legal challenges to the DMA designations, just as some were made against the DSA. Under the DMA, companies are forbidden to favour their own services over those offered by competitor firms and will have to share key information with business customers. The commission is also looking into whether Apple's iPadOS system should be designated as a "gatekeeper, despite not meeting the thresholds", it said. The new rules will force the iPhone-maker to allow alternative app stores on its products, allowing software and payments to be made outside of its control. One of the law's main targets is Apple, previously the subject of multiple investigations and slapped with huge EU fines. The commission must be notified of all takeovers, regardless of size, under the DMA. The EU believes past examples of this are Facebook's buyouts of Instagram and WhatsApp as well as Google's purchase of YouTube and Waze. One of the DMA's main aims is to stop larger players crushing the progression of smaller companies that threaten to become rivals by gobbling them up through takeovers. The DMA, alongside its sister law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), gives the commission sharper teeth against tech behemoths that critics say have for too long been given free rein to act to the detriment of users. The EU has led the way globally for taking on big tech. Meanwhile, Apple said it looked "forward to explaining to the commission why iMessage is outside the scope of the DMA". "With today's designation we are finally reining in the economic power of six gatekeepers, giving more choice to consumers and creating new opportunities for smaller innovative tech companies," said the EU's top tech enforcer, industry commissioner Thierry Breton.Īpple and Microsoft argued parts of their businesses should not be classified as a "core" service, and the commission said it launched probes to assess Apple's claims regarding iMessage, and Microsoft for Bing, Edge and its advertising platform.Ī Microsoft spokesperson welcomed the decision to launch an investigation into the three services which the company said "operate as challengers in the market". One major change under the DMA is the rule that forces interoperability between messaging apps, making it easier for users to share links and images. There will be fines of up to 10 percent of a firm's global revenues for breaking some of the most serious competition rules, and even up to 20 percent for repeat offenders. The "gatekeeper" status applies when a service has more than 45 million monthly active users and more than 10,000 yearly active business users established in the EU.Īpple on Wednesday said it was "very concerned about the privacy and data security risks the DMA poses for our users" and said it would seek to "mitigate these impacts". They must fully comply with the DMA by March 6, 2024. Others included operating systems run by Apple, Microsoft and Google as well as Alphabet's Google Maps, Play and Shopping. The services included Apple's App Store Meta's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Google's YouTube video platform and Chrome browser, as well as Apple's Safari. The European Commission, the EU's powerful antitrust body, named 22 "core platform" services belonging to five US tech behemoths identified as "gatekeepers" - Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft - and China's ByteDance. Observers say the law could open a new battlefront between digital titans and the European Union as some companies consider launching legal challenges. The latest announcement is a milestone in the application of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will force the largest firms to change their ways under a checklist of dos and don'ts and, regulators hope, create a fairer market. Brussels: The European Union on Wednesday unveiled the list of digital giants - including Apple, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance - that will face tough new curbs on how they do business.īrussels is working through a dense legislative agenda to build tougher regulation of big tech, arguing it needs to protect European consumers online and to encourage competition in an industry dominated by US giants.
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