EU Digital Markets Act Forces Tech Giants to Change Business Practices
The European Union's Digital Markets Act officially applies to major tech companies deemed "gatekeepers" to ensure fairer competition. The regulation prevents these large platforms from abusing their market power and requires them to follow strict new rules.
The European Union enforces the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to make the digital economy fairer and more competitive. This regulation specifically targets the largest digital platforms, known as "gatekeepers," that hold a durable market position and meet specific user or revenue thresholds. By focusing on these dominant companies, the EU aims to prevent the abuse of market power and allow new players to enter the digital space.
The regulation officially enters into force in November 2022 and becomes largely applicable in May 2023. In September 2023, the EU identifies twenty-two services across six major companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft—as core platform services. These designated gatekeepers have until March 2024 to fully comply with the Act's extensive list of obligations.
Key provisions of the DMA include strict prohibitions on combining user data collected across different services owned by the same parent company. For example, a company like Meta cannot easily merge the data gathered from its social network Facebook with the data from its messaging platform WhatsApp. These rules fundamentally change how large tech firms operate and handle consumer information within the European Union.