Why now?

[Dimaeiya333]

The new laws are a response to widespread dismay in the EU and abroad over the seemingly unstoppable spread of online disinformation in the wake of the pandemic, the rise of the QAnon conspiracy movement and the growing nefarious use of social media platforms to incite violence.

The regulatory changes also follow years of complaints from challenger companies about anti-competitive behaviour by Big Tech. In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the EC accusing Apple of acting as a “player and referee” to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. That complaint led the EC to accuse Apple in 2021, and again in May 2022, of abusing its dominant market position in relation to music streaming services and wallet payments.

While big tech companies have acted to self-regulate in some of these areas – the most obvious example being Twitter’s ban of former US President Donald Trump for inciting violence following last year’s attack on the US Capitol by insurrectionists – EU lawmakers believe a tougher stance is needed to protect citizens and level the playing field. The legislation will reverse the burden of proof for anti-competitive behaviour from the EC and place it squarely on big tech companies.

The measures also come after the Chinese government took regulatory action in 2021 against its own monolithic tech companies, which has seen large companies such as Alibaba hit with huge fines for anti-competitive behaviour and forced interoperability between different companies' platforms.

What has been the reaction?
The new rules come despite two years of intense – and largely unsuccessful – lobbying by big tech on EU lawmakers, with GAFAM firms increasing spending on lobbying activities in Brussels in 2021, and Apple almost doubling its lobbying spending to €7m.

In the United States, Apple, Amazon, Meta and Google spent $15.8 million on lobbying activities in Congress in the first quarter of 2022, according to Axios. They argue that antitrust bills would undermine national security, compromise user privacy and give China an advantage.

“In Washington and elsewhere, policymakers are taking steps in the name of competition that would force Apple to allow apps on the iPhone that bypass the App Store through a process called sideloading ,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit in April.

“That means data-hungry companies could bypass our privacy rules and once again tr communication directors email list ack our users against their will. It would also potentially give bad actors a way to bypass the extensive security protections we’ve put in place, putting them in direct contact with our users — and we’ve already seen the vulnerability that creates on other companies’ devices.”

WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart has expressed concerns about interoperability undermining security and privacy. Google, while concerned about the DMA stifling innovation, has already begun to comply, allowing Spotify to use its own payment system in its Android app. Microsoft, along with many smaller companies, has welcomed the DMA.

“Open platforms are important for innovation going forward and new European rules on gatekeepers will ensure that large online intermediaries, including Microsoft, do more to adapt and make #TechFit4Europe possible ,” said Microsoft Vice President of European Government Affairs Casper Klynge.

What's next?