The new digital market regulation is in its latest phase: the European Commission has named the gatekeepers

The European Union took another big step towards enforcing the provisions of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which entered into force last November. The European Commission named the so-called “gatekeepers”, i.e. the giant companies that are an inescapable gate between businesses and consumers in the online space. From now on, the law provides six months for the designated companies – such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, which operates Facebook, or Google’s parent company, Alphabet – to bring their platforms into line with the new EU requirements. The Commission’s rating covers a total of 22 basic platform services.

The designated giant companies can no longer lock customers/subscribers into their own ecosystem, they can no longer arbitrarily decide on mandatory, factory-installed and non-removable apps for devices, and they can no longer prescribe the source from which users must acquire applications. The companies involved cannot put their own platforms and products at the expense of their rivals, and must ensure the interoperability of the messaging platforms they manage.