Six Big Tech Firms Including Apple Hit by EU Regulatory Crackdown... Could It Escalate into Litigation?

Apple, Amazon, MS, Meta, and 2 Others Confirmed for Application

The six companies targeted by the European Union (EU)'s ultra-strong regulatory bill aimed at preventing big tech market monopolies are struggling over how to respond, but the intensity of their responses varies by company. Some companies have opposed the EU's decision and announced legal battles.

On the 6th (local time), the EU Commission designated six major platform operators?U.S. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft (MS), and China's ByteDance?that will be subject to special regulations under the 'Digital Markets Act (DMA)' to be implemented from March next year. A total of 22 major services they provide, including social media platforms, app stores, and operating systems (OS), are subject to regulation.

The companies targeted by the regulations are deeply concerned about a significant contraction of their business within the EU. They must overhaul their business practices, and if they violate the law, they face fines of up to 10% of their annual revenue, and up to 20% for repeated violations.

Apple must allow apps that were previously only downloadable from the Apple Store to be available to users of competing smartphones, and Google is prohibited from favoring its own search categories such as shopping in general search results. Apple stated, "We are deeply concerned about the privacy invasions and data security risks that the DMA imposes on users," adding, "We will focus on how to minimize these impacts."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon, cannot prioritize its own brand over other companies' products in product searches, and Meta cannot combine user information across its social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram without user consent.

Google and Meta said they will "review the decision" without making any special comments, while Amazon responded, "We are committed to providing services that meet customer needs within Europe's evolving regulatory environment."

MS noted that its services such as the Bing search engine and Edge browser were excluded from this decision and welcomed the EU's detailed review, saying, "(These services) welcome the EU's investigation as challengers in the market."

There is also a possibility of the issue escalating into litigation. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, said, "We support the DMA's goal of creating a level playing field for fair competition in Europe, but fundamentally disagree with this decision," adding, "We are very disappointed that no market investigation was conducted prior to this decision and are reviewing our future actions."

Bloomberg reported, "The EU also expects this decision could lead to lawsuits, and it may take years for court rulings to be issued."

The DMA is a bill that designates large platform operators as 'gatekeepers' who use their dominant market position to lock users into their own services like a fish farm and applies special regulations to these companies. Samsung, which was initially considered a potential regulatory target, was excluded from the final list announced on this day. Companies designated as gatekeepers will be prohibited from engaging in business practices favorable to their own services or exclusive business activities using data generated from their services in the EU region starting from March next year.