The European Union has been a machine of change in the tech world in recent years. After all, one of their greatest feats was getting Apple to ditch the proprietary Lightning connector on their iPhones and switch over to USB-C. Now, their Digital Markets Act (DMA) is shaking things up a lot.
Companies that were labeled as “gatekeepers”, including Alphabet, Apple, and Meta, have been making changes to the way their technology works to comply with the rules that the DMA puts forth. However, the EU has said that a lot of these efforts simply aren’t enough.
The EU Says That Some Big Tech Companies Aren’t Complying With The DMA Regulations Well Enough
Companies have been bending how their platforms work in order to align with the rules put forth by the EU’s DMA. However, despite all these companies making some substantial changes, the European Union says that Alphabet (essentially Google), Apple, and Meta are not doing enough in terms of compliance.
Based on a press release that the European Union unveiled today, we know the exact points upon which they feel these big companies are being non-compliant, and they include:
- Google and Apple aren’t allowing app developers to freely steer users out of their app stores: Google has the Play Store and Apple has the App Store, and if both companies had their ways, they would make sure that all payments and subscriptions have to be done through their respective digital marketplaces. However, the EU wants app developers to potentially be able to steer users to cheaper deals and purchases that might be done outside the app stores.
- Google favors its services in Google Search: There are hundreds of services online that you can use to find hotels, flight tickets, shop for products, and so on. However, if you search “hotels in San Francisco”, you’re very likely to be met with Google Hotels links first. The EU doesn’t like this and wants third-party services to be treated fairly. No more self-preferencing, essentially.
- Apple’s iOS and other software don’t give enough choice: The EU says Apple doesn’t provide enough user choice because they don’t let users easily uninstall any apps on their phones, they don’t make it easy to change default settings, and they don’t have choice screens that make it easy to choose another browser or search engine.
- Meta’s “pay or consent” model doesn’t provide real freedom of choice: Meta, the company behind Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, gives users an option not to have their personal data accumulated, but only if they agree to pay.
The European Union has opened proceedings against the three companies based on these findings and these proceedings are expected to reach a conclusion within 12 months, at which time they’ll all be informed of what they can do to address the points of contention.
An Easy Summary: What Is The Digital Markets Act?
The EU’s Digital Markets Act was put in place to stop a lot of the big bad tech companies from using their size and power to muscle smaller competitors out of the game — at least, that’s an easy way to summarize it. Five companies were designated as “gatekeepers”: Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Bytedance. These are the companies that feel the heat of the regulations the most.
Of course, for these companies to continue to work in Europe, which is a big market that no one wants to forgo, they need to stay in line with the regulations that have been put in place.
