The European Union (EU) intensified its crackdown on Big Tech companies on Wednesday. The EU announced that six companies, including Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) Google (GOOGL), Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META), and TikTok parent ByteDance have been classified as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
As a part of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), gatekeepers are companies providing a core platform service that has more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of €75 billion ($82 billion).
After the “gatekeepers” designation, major tech companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon will be required to make their messaging apps interoperable with competitors and allow users to choose which apps come pre-installed on their devices. Google, with its various services, faces stricter rules, as does Meta with Facebook, Instagram, Marketplace, and WhatsApp.
Non-compliance with the DMA could result in fines of up to 10% of their annual global turnover. Microsoft and Google accepted their gatekeeper designations, while Meta and Amazon are reviewing them. Apple expressed concerns about privacy and data security, while TikTok disputed the decision. Exemptions were made for certain services, like Gmail and Outlook, after these companies provided arguments that these services did not qualify as gatekeepers.
The EU also opened market investigations into Microsoft’s and Apple’s core platforms such as Bing, Edge, Microsoft Advertising, and AAPL’s iMessage services, respectively, to assess whether they qualify as gatekeepers.
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