Five US digital giants – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft – as well as China’s ByteDance, owner of TikTok, will now be subject to tougher new EU rules to curb competition rigging, according to the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA).
The new regulation aims to fundamentally alter the economic models of the digital giants, which are accused of distorting competition by abusing their dominant market position. The DMA imposes on the most powerful actors a strict framework of obligations and prohibitions that must be observed. In the event of a breach, the fines could be up to 20% of their global turnover, on repeat.
The Commission has defined a total of 22 main platforms belonging to these six groups: four social networks (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), two instant messengers (WhatsApp and Messenger), three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows), machine search (Google) and two browsers (Chrome, Safari).
The list also includes six mediation services (Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, App Store and Meta Marketplace), YouTube, as well as the advertising services of Google, Amazon and Meta.
The Commission’s aim is to boost the emergence of European start-ups and improve the services offered to consumers.
The rules of the game are changing
Among the new rules, the EU mandates interoperability of messaging services. So WhatsApp and Messenger, owned by Meta, should allow their users to communicate with competing products like Signal.
The regulation will be fully implemented from March 6 to companies designated as “gatekeepers” due to their size. Until then the affected groups will have to submit a report detailing how they ensured compliance.
Some rules, however, take effect immediately. In particular, the obligation for these platforms to inform the Commission of any takeover transaction, regardless of the size of the target.
Additionally, Google will be prohibited from favoring its own services in its search engine results, as it has been accused of doing with online sales site Google Shopping.
The new law will prevent e-commerce giant Amazon from using data generated on its websites by corporate customers to compete with them.
The DMA will also force Apple to authorize other app stores besides the Apple Store for its products, such as the famous iPhone or iPad.
The list of rules will be reviewed regularly to take account of market developments.
