October 31, 2022
On 1 November, the EU Digital Market Act (DMA) comes into force. The DMA proposes that big tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Meta, nicknamed gatekeepers, make their platforms more open and integrated by 2023.
On 12 October 2022, the Digital Markets Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, was published to define responsibilities and restrictions for online platforms, such as the requirement of dominant platforms to allow smaller competitors to access them, WhatsApp could be obliged to accept messages from competitors such as Signal or Telegram; and Amazon, Apple and Google could be prohibited from favoring their own apps and services.
The DMA requires gatekeepers to make unsubscribing from core platform services as easy as subscribing. Gatekeepers also need to ensure that instant messaging services can interact so that users can exchange chats via apps and give business users access to marketing or advertising performance data on the platform. Gatekeepers also need to inform the European Commission about acquisitions or mergers.
In addition, gatekeepers will no longer be able to rank their own products or services higher than others, pre-install apps or software. They must require the most important software (e.g., web browsers) to be installed by default when installing an operating system to prevent developers from using third-party payment platforms for app sales and re-use private data collected during a service for marketing purposes.
If a large online platform is referred to as a gatekeeper, it must comply with DMA rules within six months and fine a company up to 10% of its total worldwide turnover if it does not comply.
The sources for this piece include an article in ArsTechnica.
