The EU will force these platforms to open up to rivals, and here's when

The European Commission signed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) last year, which would see specific Big Tech platforms designated gatekeepers. This means these platforms would be forced to open up to rivals.

Now, the EU has officially announced the list of gatekeeper platforms that will need to play nicely with rivals. Six companies are included on the list, namely Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Bytedance, Meta, and Microsoft.

The list of gatekeeper platforms is as follows:

• Alphabet: Android, Chrome, Google Ads, Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping, YouTube
• Amazon: Amazon Ads, Amazon Marketplace
• Apple: App Store, iOS, Safari
• Bytedance: TikTok
• Meta: Facebook, Instagram, Meta ads, Meta Marketplace, WhatsApp
• Microsoft: LinkedIn, Windows

The European Commission confirmed that these platforms have six months to comply with the DMA. That means designated platforms need to allow interoperability with rivals and can’t treat their own services/platforms more favorably than third-party solutions, among other actions.

Failure to comply with the DMA will result in a company being fined up to 10% of its total worldwide turnover, and up to 20% for repeated offences. The commission adds that it can also force a company to sell all or part of its business or ban it from making more acquisitions in the infringing field.

This might not be the final list of gatekeeper platforms, though. The European Commission confirmed that it has opened investigations after Apple and Microsoft insisted that several of its platforms shouldn’t be classified as gatekeepers. The platforms in question are Bing, Edge, iMessage, and Microsoft Advertising.