Apple and Microsoft Battle EU Over ‘Gatekeeper’ Status for iMessage and Bing
As the European Commission prepares to publish a list of designated “gatekeepers” as part of the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) on September 6, Microsoft and Apple are reportedly working to keep Bing and iMessage off the list.
Once the EU has appointed its gatekeepers, they have six months, or until March 2024, to comply with the DMA rules.
According to The Financial Times, Microsoft and Apple argue “privately (and separately) that their services are not large enough or powerful enough to warrant deserving of Digital Markets Act restrictions”.
Microsoft is unlikely to dispute that its Windows platform meets the definition of a gatekeeper.
However, it argues that Bing’s relatively small share of the global search market (compared to Google) could only shrink with the new rules.
Apple is also said to be looking at ways to open up iOS to third-party app stores and side-loading to comply with the new rules.
However, according to the report, the tech giant claims that iMessage should not have to “interoperate with other messaging services.”
Apple and Microsoft, along with Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, ByteDance and Samsung, are part of the EU’s gatekeeper list, which determines which products are covered by the DMA.
The DMA defines clearly defined objective criteria for identifying “gatekeepers”.
Gatekeepers are large digital platforms that offer so-called core platform services, such as online search engines, app stores, messenger services.
The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeping power of the largest digital companies.
