Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft assert their compliance with EU gatekeeper status

In a significant development, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft have informed the European Commission that they meet the criteria of gatekeepers under the new EU tech rules, according to EU industry chief Thierry Breton. This announcement comes after the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) last November, which considers companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of 75 billion euros as gatekeepers providing core platform services. Samsung and TikTok owner ByteDance have also confirmed that they meet these thresholds. “Europe is completely reorganizing its digital space to better protect EU citizens and enhance innovation for startups and companies,” said Breton in a statement. The designation of gatekeeper status by the Commission will be confirmed by September 6 after verifying the data provided by the companies. Once confirmed, the companies will have six months to comply with the DMA rules. Booking.com expects to meet the gatekeeper threshold by the end of the year and will then notify the EU executive. Gatekeeper companies will be required to ensure interoperability of their messaging apps with rival platforms and allow users to choose which apps to pre-install on their devices. They will also be prohibited from favoring their own services over rivals’ or preventing users from uninstalling pre-installed software or apps. These rules will particularly impact Google and Apple. Violations of the DMA rules can result in fines of up to 10% of the company’s annual global turnover.