(CN) — European Union rules meant to rein in the dominance of Big Tech kick in on Thursday, opening a new chapter in the bloc's attempts to tame the internet and take on American and Chinese giants.
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, will have to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act, a set of rules designed to curtail the abuses and monopolies of tech giants and make the digital marketplace fairer.
Last September, the EU named these companies — five American and one Chinese — as internet “gatekeepers” because of their massive reach and huge profits in the EU market, the third-largest economy in the world.
Failure to comply with the rules can result in fines as high as 10% of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover and even up to 20% for repeated infringements.
For European users, the rules are forcing changes to 22 digital platforms run by the six companies, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Chrome, Safari, Amazon Marketplace, YouTube, WhatsApp, Messenger, Google Play, Google Maps and Google Play.
In preparation for the rules' deadline at midnight Wednesday, the tech companies have already introduced changes.
For instance, Google’s search results in the EU now give more prominence to products offered by competitors. On Microsoft devices, people using Windows no longer see Bing as their default internet search engine. Europeans now have more choices about how their data is handled. And Apple is being forced to allow its European users to download apps from outside its app store.
These changes are subtle, big and potentially disruptive for both users and businesses.
Critics warn the rules will change tech companies' behavior only superficially, do little to level the playing field and may end up having unintended consequences, such as hurting smaller internet companies and leaving Europeans with fewer choices.
For example, on Wednesday Apple terminated the developer account for Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. Epic Games said Apple's decision will prevent it from releasing Fortnite and a third-party app store in Europe. The announcement came amid a legal fight between Epic Games and Apple.
But EU regulators in Brussels hail these rules as part of a groundbreaking effort to protect users' privacy, stop the proliferation of disinformation and harmful content and curb what regulators see as unfair profiteering by tech giants.
And Brussels is ready for new legal skirmishes with the tech giants.
“We will see some compliance, full compliance by some companies. But I do think that there will be non-compliance cases,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition chief, told AFP on Wednesday.
She said the EU would not shy away from taking action against companies that don't follow all the rules. Besides hefty fines, the Digital Markets Act gives EU regulators the power to break up companies.
“If you look at our history, we have sort of made it credible that we will use the tools that we have,” Vestager said.
The EU has taken on tech giants — and imposed huge fines — in a series of cases over the past decade with mixed results. Most recently, on Monday the EU hit Apple with a 1.8-billion-euro ($1.9 billion) fine for preventing users from accessing alternative music streaming subscriptions.
“We're not in this in order to break up companies, we're not in this to give you a hefty fine. We're in here to push for compliance,” Vestager told AFP.
Brussels insists the rules are a milestone for online freedom and innovation in Europe by bringing down obstacles faced by smaller tech competitors and giving consumers more choices.
But the rules face legal hurdles with Apple, ByteDance and Meta challenging parts of the law.
Apple has become a big critic of the Digital Markets Act, arguing that giving its iPhone and iPad users access to rival app stores and payment systems leaves them vulnerable to security risks.
This is the first time Apple is being forced to open its App Store to rivals. The company gets a big chunk of its revenue from the 30% fee it charges for payments — such as for Disney+ subscriptions — made through iOS apps. In response to the EU rules, Apple has sparked controversy with plans to charge fees for apps outside its App Store.
The changes required by the new EU law are broad.
Among them, the rules require platforms to allow users to access third party services. This could mean, for example, a person using WhatsApp might need to be allowed to send messages to platforms outside WhatsApp.
The rules also call for allowing businesses to access the data they generate while using a gatekeeper’s platform. Businesses using a gatekeepers' platform must be allowed to promote their products and sell goods outside a gatekeeper’s platform.
The six gatekeepers aren't allowed to rank more favorably services and products they offer over those offered by competitors.
Also, the practice of barring consumers from linking up to businesses outside the gatekeepers' platforms will not be tolerated. Preventing users from un-installing pre-installed software or apps will not be legal either.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is in charge of enforcing the law with up to 100 specialists hired to ensure compliance.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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