EU orders Apple, Meta to open platforms under DMA
Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Union has ordered Apple and Meta to open their platforms to competitors. The enforcement action requires Apple's iOS and Meta's messaging services to allow for greater interoperability. This move is a significant step in the EU's effort to increase competition in the digital platform ecosystem.
- The Digital Markets Act (DMA) specifically targets "gatekeepers," which are large digital platforms with a significant impact on the internal market. Besides Apple and Meta, the European Commission has also designated Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, and Microsoft as gatekeepers. - Fines for non-compliance can be substantial, with the EU fining Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million in April 2025. Apple's fine was for restricting app developers from informing users about cheaper alternatives outside the App Store, a practice known as "anti-steering". Meta's fine was related to its "pay or consent" model, which the Commission found did not offer a genuine free choice for users regarding the use of their personal data for advertising. - The DMA requires messaging services to be interoperable, meaning a user on one platform should be able to exchange messages with a user on another. For Meta, this applies to its Messenger and WhatsApp services. The initial phase of this requirement focuses on one-to-one text messaging and the sharing of images, voice messages, and videos. - Apple has raised concerns that the DMA's requirements to allow third-party app stores and "sideloading" could expose users to increased security and privacy risks, such as malware and scams. However, the DMA does not prohibit gatekeepers from implementing necessary and proportionate security checks. - The DMA's interoperability mandate for hardware and software, under Article 6(7), has raised technical concerns about expanding the attack surface for malicious actors and potentially creating system instability. Exposing internal functions not originally designed for open access could introduce new vulnerabilities. - The compliance deadline for the initial six gatekeepers, including Apple and Meta, was March 7, 2024. Both companies have faced non-compliance investigations that began in March 2024, with preliminary findings of non-compliance communicated to them in June and July of that year. - Industry reactions to the enforcement actions have been mixed. The European Consumer Organisation has praised the decisions, while the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which includes Apple and Meta as members, has criticized the enforcement as "opaque and discretionary". - The DMA is part of a broader European strategy to regulate the digital sector, alongside the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA focuses on content moderation and holding platforms accountable for illegal and harmful content.
