Under the heavy anti monopoly measures of the European Union, technology giants have already "softened". Recently, Microsoft and Google stated that they will not appeal against the EU's decision to designate them as "gatekeepers".
On September 6, according to the Digital Market Act (DMA), the European Commission for the first time designated six "gatekeeper" enterprises - Alphabet (Google's parent company), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, covering 22 core platform services provided by the "gatekeeper", including Google search and browser Chrome, Apple browser Safari, App Store and iOS operating system, TikTok, Facebook and Microsoft operating system Windows PC OS under ByteDance.
These six companies will have six months to ensure that each designated core platform service fully complies with DMA obligations, and dissenting companies can file an appeal to the court before November 16th.
DMA has been in effect since November last year and implemented since May this year, aiming to standardize large internet platform companies and ensure a fair competitive environment in the digital field. According to the bill, "gatekeeper" enterprises refer to large enterprises that provide core platform services such as social networks and search engines, with a market value of at least 75 billion euros or an annual revenue of 7.5 billion euros. They also need to have at least 45 million end users per month and 10000 business users per year within the EU.
The bill stipulates a series of detailed obligations for "gatekeepers", including the obligation not to abuse their advantageous position, the obligation to protect data information, the obligation to disclose advertising information, the obligation to handle reported information, and the obligation to protect consumer rights. If the relevant enterprise violates the corresponding requirements, it will face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue in the previous fiscal year, and repeated violations may result in a fine of up to 20% of the global total revenue. If a company violates the rules at least 3 times within 8 years, the European Commission can conduct market investigations and, if necessary, implement behavioral or structural remedial measures, such as divestiture (partial) of the company.
Professor Chen Bing, Director of the Competition Law Center at Nankai University, pointed out that the legislative purpose of DMA is very clear, which is to establish and maintain a competitive and fair market in the field of digital economy. The reason why the enforcement targets of DMA are all displayed as technology giants is determined by the inherent characteristics of competition in the digital economy field.
Facing the platform merchant side, the 'gatekeeper' platform is in a relatively advantageous position and has the ability to control transaction conditions and engage in unfair trading behavior. Chen Bing analyzed that the EU antitrust law can also regulate unfair trading behavior of some leading enterprises in the digital economy field, but these regulations are ex post facto. The European Commission is based on the actual development of the EU digital market, It is necessary to establish a DMA for pre supervision of "gatekeepers", which complements the post supervision of EU antitrust laws.
Among the 22 core platform services stipulated by the European Union, Google provides the largest number of services, including its Android operating system, maps, and search services. A spokesperson for Google stated that there will be no appeal against this decision.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said, "We accept the fact that DMA is designated as a gatekeeper and will continue to cooperate with the European Commission to fulfill DMA's obligations for Windows and LinkedIn
On the other hand, Apple responded after the first batch of "gatekeepers" companies were announced, stating that "they are still concerned about privacy and security risks in DMA", while TikTok stated that "they fundamentally disagree with the designated decision".
Wu Shenkuo, a doctoral supervisor at the School of Law at Beijing Normal University and deputy director of the Research Center of the China Internet Association, previously stated in an interview with 21 reporters that "gatekeepers" are proposed in combination with the reality of the prominent power, huge impact, and extensive market control of large technology platforms in the development of the digital economy. By strengthening the compliance obligations of the so-called "gatekeepers", Promoting and promoting large-scale platforms to respect and maintain healthy digital economy market rules, leaving necessary living space for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, is the core demand of the EU. By using the "bull nose" approach, we aim to create an open, transparent, and fair market environment.
Combining the reality that over 90% of the EU's market entities belong to small and medium-sized enterprises, this compliance requirement is proposed with the aim of consolidating and improving the EU's global position in the development of the digital economy, while responding to external competitive pressures.
The EU DMA is equivalent to putting a 'tight curse' on the high-tech giants developing in the EU. Chen Bing analyzed that none of the first batch of "gatekeepers" companies announced by the EU came from the EU, and in reality, they hope to create development space for the growth of technology platform enterprises within the EU by restricting the development of foreign enterprises.
In Chen Bing's view, DMA imposes special obligations on "gatekeepers", which will constrain the business activities of these enterprises and may require changes to existing business models. In the short term, the interests of "gatekeepers" will be impacted. How 'gatekeepers' respond to DMA compliance and what measures they will take will directly affect the actual effectiveness of DMA.