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The
law, effective from March 7, requires six gatekeepers - which
provide services like search engines, social networks and chat
apps used by other businesses - to comply with guidance to
ensure a level playing field for their rivals and to give users
more choices.
Violations could result in fines of as much as 10% of the
companies' global annual turnover.
The European Commission said it suspects that the measures put
in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance
under the act, confirming a Reuters story.
The EU competition enforcer will investigate Alphabet's rules on
steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search,
Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen
for Safari and Meta's 'pay or consent model'.
Asked if the Commission was rushing the process, EU industry
chief Thierry Breton said the investigations should not be a
surprise.
"The law is the law. We can't just sit around and wait," he told
a press conference.
He said Meta, which introduced a no-ads subscription service in
Europe last November that has triggered criticism from rivals
and users, should offer free alternative options. Google and
Apple have similarly introduced new fees for some services.
A Meta spokesperson said the company was endeavoring to comply
with the act's guidance.
“Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a
well-established business model across many industries, and we
designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping
regulatory obligations, including the DMA," a Meta spokesperson
said.
Google, which said it has made significant changes to its
services, said it would defend its approach in the coming
months. Apple said it was confident its plan complied with the
DMA.
The Commission is also taking steps to investigate Apple's new
fee structure for alternative app stores and Amazon's ranking
practices on its marketplace.
The EU executive, which aims to wrap up the investigations
within a year, the timeframe set out under the DMA, said it has
ordered the companies to retain certain documents, allowing them
to access relevant information in its current and future probes.
The EU investigations came amid escalating criticism from apps
developers and business users about shortcomings in the
companies' compliance efforts.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Bart Meijer; Editing by
Bernadette Baum)
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