EU Investigating Google, Apple Under New Digital Markets Act

Facts

• The European Commission on Monday announced EU regulators will investigate Google, Meta, and Apple to ensure the companies are abiding by the EU's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which took effect March 7.¹
• Regulators will determine whether Google and Apple use their app stores to prevent competing developers from promoting their apps, and also probe Meta's new ad-free subscriptions and data-based advertising.²
• The DMA dubs six major tech companies as "gatekeepers" and requires them to allow users to change default apps and uninstall pre-installed apps. It further bans the ranking of those companies' own services above competitors and requires them to allow third-party app stores.³
• In addition, the commission is also considering probing Amazon for potentially giving preferential treatment to its own products on the e-commerce platform.⁴
• If found guilty of violating the DMA, the companies can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue, which is in the hundreds of billions of dollars for each involved.²
• All three companies, as well as Amazon, have responded to the announcement by stating they have and will continue to comply with the DMA.³

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²The New York Times, ³Verge and ⁴WSJ.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Verge. The DMA seems like a noble pursuit, but it could wind up making things worse because of the market-manipulation loopholes these companies created in preparation for the law. For example, Apple has scrapped its 15-30% revenue fee on competing developers, replacing it with a 50-cent fee for apps with over a million downloads — leaving the competition better off sticking with the original fee.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Christian Science Monitor. Big Tech's legal loopholes don't negate the historic nature of the DMA. Europeans now have a clearer understanding of their app options, not to mention the new ability to prevent companies from tracking their data. As for loopholes like Apple's 50-cent rule, the commission will undoubtedly probe this move and strike it down if it's found to be in violation of the law.

Predictions