Microsoft and Apple seek exemption from EU's ''gatekeeper'' list

As the European Commission prepares to publish a list of designated “gatekeepers” as part of the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) on 6 September Microsoft and Apple are reportedly pushing to keep Bing and iMessage off the list.

Once the EU designates its gatekeepers, they will have six months, or until March 2024, to comply with the DMA’s rules.

According to The Financial Times, Microsoft and Apple are “privately (and separately) arguing that their services aren’t large or powerful enough to justify earning the restrictions of the Digital Markets Act”.

Microsoft is “unlikely” to dispute that its Windows platform meets the definition of a gatekeeper. 

However, it argues that Bing’s relatively small share in the global search market (compared to Google) could only be further diminished with the new rules.

Apple is also reportedly working on ways that will open up iOS to third-party app stores and sideloading to comply with new rules. 
However, according to the report, the tech giant argues that iMessage shouldn’t have to “interoperate with other messaging services”. 

Apple and Microsoft, along with Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, ByteDance, and Samsung, will be part of the EU “gatekeepers” list and it will determine which products should be covered under the DMA.

The DMA establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to identify “gatekeepers”. 

Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing so called core platform services, such as for example online search engines, app stores, messenger services.

The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies.