by LONDON (AP) – Europeans who scroll through their phones and computers this week will get new choices about default browsers and search engines, where to download iPhone apps and how their personal data is used online.
They are part of changes called for under the Digital Markets Act, a set of European Union regulations that will have to be met by six technology companies classified as “leggers” — Amazon, Apple, Google owner Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok, ByteDance — begin to follow accordingly. by midnight on Wednesday.
The DMA is the latest in a series of regulations adopted by Europe as a global leader in restoring the dominance of large technology companies. Tech giants have responded by changing some of their long-standing ways of doing business – for example Apple allowing people to install smartphone apps outside of its App Store.
The new rules have broad but vague goals of making digital markets “fairer” and “more competitive.” They are starting as efforts around the world to tackle the tech industry are intensifying.
Here’s a look at how the Digital Markets Act will work:
WHY DO COMPANIES FOLLOW THE RULES?
About 22 services, from operating systems to messenger apps and social media platforms, will be in the DMA’s crosshairs.
They include Google services such as Maps, YouTube, the Chrome browser and the Android operating system, as well as the Amazon Marketplace and Apple’s Safari Browser and iOS.
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Meta are included as well as Microsoft’s Windows and LinkedIn.
The companies are threatened with large fines worth up to 20% of their annual global revenue due to repeated violations – which can amount to billions of dollars – or even the breaking up of their businesses for “systematic violations .”
WHAT EFFECT WILL THE RULES HAVE ON THE WORLD?
The Digital Markets Act is a new milestone for the 27-nation European Union in its long-standing role as a global leader in driving the technology industry forward.
The bloc has slapped Google with hefty fines in antitrust cases, imposed tough rules to clean up social media and is introducing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence regulations.
Now, places like Japan, Britain, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Brazil and India are pulling up their own versions of DMA-like rules aimed at preventing tech companies from dominating markets. digital.
“We’re already seeing copies around the world,” said Bill Echikson, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based think tank. The DMA will become “the defacto standard” for digital regulation in the democratic world, he said.
Officials will be looking to Brussels for guidance, said Zach Meyers, assistant director at the Center for European Reform, a think tank in London.
“If it works, many Western countries will probably try to follow the DMA to avoid fragmentation and risk taking a different approach that fails,” he said.
HOW TO CHANGE DOWNLOADING APPS?
In one of the biggest changes, Apple has said it will allow European iPhone users to download apps outside of its App Store, which comes installed on its mobile devices.
The company has long opposed such a move, with a large chunk of its revenue coming from the 30% fee it charges for payments — such as Disney+ subscriptions — made through iOS apps. Apple has warned that “sideloading” apps pose additional security risks.
Now, Apple is cutting those fees it collects from app developers in Europe who choose to stay within the company’s payment processing system. But a 50-euro cent fee is being added to each iOS app installed through third-party app stores, which critics say will discourage the many existing free apps – whose developers currently pay no fee – from jumping ship.
“Why would they possibly opt into a world where they have to pay a fee of 50 cents per user?” said Avery Gardiner, Spotify’s global director of competition policy. “So those alternative app stores will never gain traction, because there will be this huge chunk of apps that would have to be there for the store to be attractive to customers.”
“That completely contradicts the purpose of the DMA,” Gardiner added.
Brussels will scrutinize tech companies for compliance.
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said this week, after 10 years in the job, “I’ve seen a lot of antitrust cases and a lot of creativity as part of how to work within our rules.”
HOW DO PEOPLE HAVE MORE CHOICES ONLINE?
Consumers will not be forced into default options for key services.
Android users can choose the search engine to use by default, while iPhone users will be able to choose the browser of their choice. Europeans will see option screens on their devices. Meanwhile, Microsoft won’t force people to use its Edge browser.
The idea is to stop people from using Apple’s Safari browser or the Google Search app. But even smaller players worry they could be worse off than before.
Users may stick with what they recognize because they don’t know anything about the alternatives, said Christian Kroll, CEO of Berlin-based search engine Ecosia.
Ecosia is pushing Apple and Google to include more information about competing services in the selection screens.
“If people don’t know what the alternatives are, it’s unlikely that many of them will choose another option,” Kroll said. “I’m a big fan of the DMA. I’m not sure yet if the results we expect will be there.”
HOW HAS INTERNET SEARCH CHANGED?
Some Google search results will show differently, because the DMA prevents companies from prioritizing their own services.
So, for example, an additional “carousel” of booking sites such as Expedia will be shown in a search for hotels. Meanwhile, the Google Flights button will be removed from the search result display and the location will be listed among the blue links on the search results pages.
Users will also have options to stop being profiled for targeted advertising based on their online activity.
Google users are getting the option to stop sharing data across the company’s services to help them better target them with ads.
Meta is allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so that their personal information cannot be combined to target ads.
The DMA also requires messaging systems to be interoperable. Meta, which owns the only two chat apps that fall under the rules, is expected to come up with a proposal for how Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp users can exchange text messages, videos and images.
