It appears the European Union is wasting no time enforcing its Digital Markets Act (DMA): On Monday, we learned Apple, Google, and Meta will all be investigated for potentially violating the DMA. If found guilty, each company could face up to 10% of their total annual revenue not just in the E.U. but globally—20% for “repeat infringement.” Violate the E.U.’s laws, pay with the money you earned everywhere.
The DMA is only 18 days old as of the announcement of this investigation: Europe put the law into action March 7, a deadline these big tech companies needed to adhere to. Apple, for example, was required to offer developers the ability to create their own third-party app stores, as well as create true mobile browsers not based on Safari’s WebKit platform. Meta, on the other hand, needed to open up WhatsApp and Messenger to third-party messaging services. The European Commission labels six companies as “gatekeepers,” identifying them as blocking third-party innovation through their use of specific apps and services. (Interestingly, it did not find Apple’s iMessage to be a gatekeeping service.) In addition to Apple, Google, and Meta, the Commission has found Amazon, ByteDance, and Microsoft as gatekeepers.
Each company has racked up its own concerns for the Commission: They’re looking into whether Apple is actually making it easy to uninstall apps on iOS, change default settings, or present clear information offering users the option to switch to third-party browsers and search engines. The Commission is investigating Google for pushing its own services, like Google Flights, Google Hotels, and Google Shopping, over third-party options, and whether they suppress third-party search results. Meta is being investigated for its no-ads subscription service, which the company implemented to offer a solution for users who do not consent to data-scraping. (The company also has an additional six months to comply with interoperability requirements.) The Commission believes the company should offer other alternatives that are free. The Commission is also looking into whether Amazon is pushing its services on the Amazon Store, but the company is not named as a key part of the investigation.
The Commission is looking at both Apple and Google, however, over “steering” concerns—essentially, whether Apple or Google are placing roadblocks for developers to tell users about free third-party offers you won’t find in the App Store or Play Store, respectively. In addition, they’re targeting these companies for how they charge users, as they claim new services violate the DMA.
Following the investigation, the Commission will report their findings to the gatekeepers, including potential fines or changes these companies must implement. For their part, all three companies say they are within compliance of the DMA, and defend the changes they’ve implemented. Since the Commission’s investigation is going to take upwards of a year, it’s likely we won’t know whether the companies will be found in violation for some time.
Look, I’m no legal expert—European or otherwise—so I don’t know if these companies are actively violating the DMA. But it is cool to see a government passing a law that protects consumers and immediately acting on it when they suspect noncompliance.
