Digital Markets Act: ensure more freedom of choice for users online

Major digital companies such as Google, Apple, and Amazon control access to digital markets. These gatekeepers often impede competition and limit users’ freedom of choice. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to change this. Major digital companies, which the European Commission has designated gatekeepers, are obliged to implement the DMA by 7 March. However, there are indications that some companies might try to circumvent the DMA. Their use of manipulative user interfaces or messages could prevent consumers from exercising their rights.

Ramona Pop, Executive Director of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband – vzbv), says the following:

The Digital Markets Act aims to prevent major digital companies such as Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon from determining what is offered to consumers. The Act has the potential to boost competition and consumer choice.

The gatekeepers must implement the Digital Markets Act in the way the lawmakers intended in order to ensure that consumers benefit from the new rules. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has already found evidence that at least some of these gatekeepers, such as Meta and Amazon, may try to circumvent the rules, for example by employing manipulative messaging or choice menus to prevent consumers from exercising their new freedom of choice.

The European Commission must enforce the Digital Markets Act, take decisive action against any attempts to circumvent the DMA’s provisions, and launch official investigations where such behaviour prevails. This is the only way to ensure that the new rules on digital markets have the intended positive consumer impact.

The DMA imposes comprehensive obligations on gatekeepers aiming at boosting both competition and consumer choice. For example, service providers such as Google and Apple will, in the future, no longer be able to prevent their users from deleting pre-installed apps or using alternative, cheaper app stores. In addition, gatekeepers may no longer give preferential treatment to nor highlight their own products or services in search results or in digital marketplaces. This means consumers will have access to potentially better online services and goods.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force in May 2023. The European Commission defined six major digital companies as “gatekeepers” that offer “core platform services” such as search engines, operating systems, social networks, and marketplaces. The companies are Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc.), and Microsoft. By 7 March, the gatekeepers must have made the necessary adjustments to comply with the new rules.