Apple, Google and Meta are set to be investigated by the EU for potential breaches of the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect just this month.

The regulation aims to put bigger scrutiny on what the EU defines as ‘market gatekeepers’, including Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company).

These companies hold strong market dominance across a number of fields, including search engines, online retail, social media, and messaging apps.

Less than a month after the DMA came into effect on 7 March, three of the six ‘gatekeepers’ will face investigations for breaches in the law meant to stifle the continued growth of monopolies and safeguard fairer market competition.

In total, the EU will open five investigations levied against Apple, Google, and Meta

The Investigations

The EU Commission has taken issue with Alphabet’s and Apple’s implementation of anti-steering obligations as set out in the DMA.

Anti-steering obligations mean that gatekeepers cannot restrict businesses from informing users within an app about cheaper options outside of the gatekeeper’s ecosystem.

Both Apple and Alphabet have been found to still charge recurring fees and are limiting steering by businesses whose apps can be found on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

The EU will therefore open two investigations relating to the company’s anti-steering provisions, and if these fees and limitations limit consumer choice.

Apple will face a further investigation, delving into if their web browser choices and ability to uninstall apps is not offering users a fair and free choice.

Google will also face an investigation into self-preferencing its own content on Google Search results.

Recommended reading

• Meta Introduces New Data Sharing Choices to Comply with DMA
• Big Tech Faces Tough New Digital Markets Competition Rules
• Meta’s Pay-or-Consent Model Under GDPR Fire

Meta’s case involves its answer to a recent GDPR fine, which prompted the company to introduce a “pay or consent” model to behavioral advertising and data harvesting.

Further to these five investigations, the EU plans to probe how Apple will price alternative app stores on its devices, and if Amazon’s ranking practices on its marketplace are unfair to competing vendors.

The EU plans to conclude the investigation in a year.