Digital Markets Act

The Digital Markets Act is a law of the European Union. It is abbreviated as DMA. It targets a small group of very large internet companies, for example Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. These companies control gateways that almost everyone has to pass through: app stores, search engines, social networks, operating systems. The EU therefore calls them gatekeepers. The DMA prescribes what these gatekeepers must do and what they are no longer allowed to do. It has been in force since 2023 and has been fully applied since 2024.

Why the EU regulates gatekeepers

Ordinary competition law only takes effect once damage has already occurred. Authorities then have to prove for years that a company has abused its power. In the meantime, the smaller competitor has often long since gone bankrupt. The DMA reverses this: it prohibits certain behaviors from the outset, without a case-by-case review.

The background to this is an effect economists call the network effect. A social network is only attractive to you if your friends are already there. An app store is only worthwhile for developers if many users shop there. Once you’re big, you almost automatically get bigger still. New providers accordingly have a hard time, no matter how good their product is.

For the EU, this is also about independence. Almost all major platforms come from the USA or China. The DMA is meant to give European companies fair chances. Whether this succeeds is disputed among experts.

What obligations and prohibitions apply

A company is declared a gatekeeper if it exceeds certain thresholds. These include annual revenue in Europe of at least 7.5 billion euros and at least 45 million monthly users in the EU. The European Commission examines this and officially designates the companies. Currently designated companies include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft and Booking, among others.

Specific rules then apply to them. They are not allowed to favor their own products in their result listings. They must allow users to install apps outside the company’s own store as well. Messengers are supposed to open up to other messengers upon request. Data from different services may not be combined without explicit consent. And pre-installed apps must be able to be deleted.

Anyone who does not comply risks a fine of up to ten percent of worldwide annual revenue. In case of repeated violations, it is up to twenty percent. For a company like Apple, that amounts to double-digit billions. A common misconception: the DMA does not regulate what content may appear online. That is the responsibility of a different law, the Digital Services Act.

What has changed on your phone

The most visible consequence is found in the iPhone. Apple had to allow, within the EU, apps to be installed via third-party stores. In addition, a selection screen for the default browser appeared during setup. Google Search also looks different in Europe than in the USA, because the company’s own services like Google Flights are no longer allowed to be favored at the top.

In business news, the DMA usually comes up in disputes. In 2024, the Commission opened proceedings against Apple, Alphabet and Meta. In 2025, the first fines in the hundreds of millions followed. The companies are fighting back in court, arguing that the rules endanger security and data protection.

The DMA is also becoming increasingly relevant for AI. The question is whether a chatbot built firmly into the operating system displaces other assistants. Don’t confuse the DMA with the AI Act here. The AI Act regulates how AI systems themselves may be built and deployed. The DMA, by contrast, regulates the market power of the companies that offer such systems.