In this age of modern political and social discourse, few industries are more controversial than that of so-called “Big-Tech”—the group of information technology companies that have come to dominate the forefront of society. From Microsoft Windows' decades-long rule over operating systems to Google's stranglehold over the very essence of online ideas, Big Tech has seeped into virtually every nook and cranny of our lives.
This dominance has been bolstered by governments’ historically lax regulations on technology companies. Government intervention in the U.S., for instance, is a relatively rare phenomenon, with notable anti-monopoly laws enforced in only a handful of cases over the past few decades. However, perhaps what is more impactful for regulation is the rapid development of the tech industry itself, which often metamorphoses multiple times over just a few weeks. On the other hand, legislature that attempts to control this growth can take months or even years to be put into effect, meaning that it often targets outdated or irrelevant industrial services, goods, or companies. The race between industrial development and legislature has only been amplified in recent years, with the emergence of massive data-processing models like ChatGPT
The European Union's Digital Markets Act marks a departure from this bureaucratic slogfest. The Act, which went into effect on March 6, 2024, targets a set of six 'gatekeeper companies' — Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, the Facebook parent company Meta, the Google parent company Alphabet, and the TikTok parent company ByteDance — that often limit smaller competitors' access to the market and other resources. Beginning on March 6, these tech giants will be forced to abide by a set of stricter regulations that prohibit self-promotion, and instead must offer access to competitor services. Failure to comply with these regulations runs the risk of steep fines—up to 20% of global revenue for repeat offenders. For extreme cases, the EU reserves the right to forcibly divest parts of a corporation, or even force its total dissolution.
The Digital Markets Act has already resulted in several notable changes to the ways European consumers interact with these tech giants. Rather than defaulting to Google and Safari respectively, Android and Apple users will now have the option to select their default search engine when setting up their devices. Meta's Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger apps will begin to incorporate compatibility with smaller, third-party chat services. Google search results will now display a more equal balance of competing sites, rather than focusing on results based on third-party rankings. Lastly, Amazon users will now be able to restrict whether or not services like Twitch and IMBd can collect their data. The Act has received some criticism, with detractors citing its EU-limited scope and perceived inability to change the 'status quo' of the tech industry. Nonetheless, it marks a notable effort to reign in the sparsely-checked power of Big Tech. In the coming years and months, the Act may alter the dynamics of power in the digital world, and hand some of the reigns of power to the individual consumer.