Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple to be Regulated as Europe Agrees Landmark Digital Markets Act

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran The powers of technology giants like Facebook owner Meta, Google, Amazon and Apple could be severely curbed as the European Union Council and European Parliament have reached a provisional political agreement on the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA).The DMA, the process for which began some 16 months ago, defines clear rules for large online platforms and aims to ensure that no large online platform that acts as a gatekeeper for a large number of users abuses its position to the detriment of companies wishing to access such users.For a platform to qualify as a gatekeeper, it must either have had an annual turnover of at least €7.5 billion ($8.2 billion) within the European Union (EU) in the past three years or have a market valuation of at least €75 billion, and it must have at least 45 million monthly end users and at least 10,000 business users established in the EU.

The gatekeepers can no longer rank their own products or services higher than those of others; reuse private data collected during a service for the purposes of another service; establish unfair conditions for business users; pre-install certain software applications; and require app developers to use certain services like payment systems or identity providers in order to be listed in app stores.If a gatekeeper violates the rules laid down in the legislation, it risks a fine of up to 10% of its total worldwide turnover.

For a repeat offence, a fine of up to 20% of its worldwide turnover may be imposed. If a gatekeeper violates the rules at least three times in eight years, the European Commission can open a market investigation and impose behavioral or structural remedies.