Digital Markets Act

About Digital Markets Act (DMA)

• It is the EU’s law to make the markets in the digital sector fairer and more contestable.
• It aims to create a safer internet, empower citizens, enhance consumer protections, and foster higher-quality digital services.
• In order to do so, the DMA establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to identify “gatekeepers”.
  • Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing so-called core platform services, such as online search engines, app stores, and messenger services. 
  • Gatekeepers will have to comply with the do’s (i.e., obligations) and don’ts (i.e., prohibitions) listed in the DMA.
  • The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies.
• Key Measures:
  • Tighter restrictions on how digital gatekeepers can use people’s data—users must give their explicit consent for their activities to be tracked for advertising purposes.
  • Messaging services and social media platforms teaming up and sharing users. This could mean, for example, Meta-owned WhatsApp users being able to send messages directly to a completely different messaging service, such as Telegram.
  • Presenting users with the option to uninstall preloaded applications on devices.
  • Gatekeepers are banned from ranking their own products or services higher than others in online searches.
• The DMA complements, but does not change EU competition rules, which continue to apply fully.

Q1) What is the European Union (EU)?

The EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states located primarily in Europe. The EU was established by the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force on November 1, 1993. The main goal of the EU is to promote cooperation and integration among its member states in order to enhance economic and political stability in Europe. The EU has its own currency, the Euro, which is used by 19 of the member states. It has a single market where goods, services, and capital can move freely.

Source: Apple, Google, Meta targeted in EU’s first Digital Markets Act probes