EU's New Digital Markets Act (DMA) Law

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a landmark law aimed at making the digital market more fair and competitive, particularly by regulating the practices of large online platforms known as “gatekeepers.” These include companies like Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook’s parent), and Microsoft. The DMA sets specific criteria for identifying gatekeepers based on their economic strength, their role in intermediating between businesses and consumers, and their durable position in the market. It introduces a set of obligations (do’s) and prohibitions (don’ts) for these gatekeepers, such as allowing third-party inter-operation with their services, providing business users access to their data, and preventing them from favoring their own services over others.

Significantly, the DMA aims to benefit business users by creating a fairer business environment, spur innovation among tech startups, and provide consumers with more and better service options. It also outlines severe penalties for non-compliance, including fines of up to 10% or 20% of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover for repeated infringements.

Despite the potential benefits, the DMA’s implementation faces challenges, including the need for a larger enforcement team than initially planned and concerns from big tech companies about privacy, security vulnerabilities, and the impact on innovation. The DMA’s success and its approach to fostering a competitive digital market will likely influence similar regulations globally.