The European Commission has identified major tech giants, including Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and ByteDance Ltd., as “gatekeepers” to be regulated under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA). These tech companies have until March 2024 to comply with the new regulations aimed at limiting their market dominance.
Under the DMA, these companies will be required to compete based on the merits of their products and services. Messaging apps will need to ensure interoperability with competitors, and operating systems must support third-party app stores and alternate in-app payment options.
Certain services of Microsoft, such as its Bing search engine, Edge browser, and advertising service, are not on the list of gatekeepers but are under investigation to determine if they meet the criteria for regulation. Similarly, Apple’s iMessage service and iPadOS are also under scrutiny.
Companies are categorized as gatekeepers if they have an annual turnover of over €7.5 billion in Europe, a market cap of over €75 billion, and a service with over 45 million monthly active users in the EU. Failure to comply with the regulations could result in fines of up to 10% of their total worldwide turnover or up to 20% for repeat offenders.
The DMA is part of the European Union’s efforts to curb the influence of tech giants and foster competition. It could significantly impact the business models of these companies in Europe.
While the DMA aims to bring about positive changes, major tech companies have expressed concerns about its potential impacts. Apple, for instance, has raised concerns about privacy and security risks. However, they are committed to mitigating these impacts while continuing to serve their European customers.
Source: European Commission, Benzinga
