Julien Pichené with AFP
modified to
11:00 a.m., September 07, 2023
Five US digital giants – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft – as well as China’s ByteDance, owner of TikTok, will be subject to tougher new EU rules to stem anti-competitive practices, according to a list unveiled on Wednesday.
Apple “very concerned” about the new rules
The regulation on digital markets (DMA) must profoundly modify the economic models of these behemoths, accused of ousting competition by abusing their dominant position.
This legislation opens a new front between the EU and big tech, with new legal battles in prospect. TikTok immediately contested its inclusion in the list, saying it “fundamentally disagrees” with the European Commission. Apple said it was “very concerned” about the new rules, saying they pose concerns for the privacy and data security of its customers.
The DMA will for example force Apple to authorize other application stores than the Apple Store on its famous iPhone or iPad. The Commission has designated a total of 22 key 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), a search engine (Google), two browsers (Chrome, Safari). The list also includes six intermediation services (Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, App Store and Meta Marketplace), the video sharing site Youtube as well as the advertising services of Google, Amazon and Meta.
Brussels wants to act faster and stronger
At the initiative of the text, Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton hope to encourage the emergence of European start-ups and improve the services offered to consumers.
After years of chasing after infringements in endless legal proceedings, Brussels wants to act faster and stronger. The DMA imposes on the most powerful actors a straitjacket of obligations and prohibitions to be respected under penalty of fines which could reach 20% of their worldwide turnover in the event of recidivism.
“The rules of the game have changed”
“We have already started to discuss with companies who have understood that the rules of the game have changed”, explains Thierry Breton. He affirms that the European Commission, endowed with the power of control and sanctions, “will not hesitate to take strong measures”.
The goal is to act before the abusive behavior has already destroyed competition and created a quasi-monopoly like that of Google in search engines. Among the new rules, the EU will impose the interoperability of the targeted messaging services. Thus WhatsApp and Messenger, both owned by Meta, will have to allow their users to communicate with competing products like Signal.
Google will be banned from any favoritism
The regulation will apply from March 6 to these firms designated on Wednesday as “gatekeepers”, because of their size which makes them essential. By then, affected groups will be required to submit a report detailing how they have achieved compliance.
Some rules take effect immediately. This is the case of the new obligation for these platforms to inform the Commission of any takeover operation, regardless of the size of the target.
In addition, Google will be prohibited from showing favoritism towards its own services in the results of its search engine, as it has been accused of doing with its online sales site Google Shopping. The new law will prevent e-commerce giant Amazon from using data generated on its sites by corporate customers.