The European Union (EU) on Monday launched investigations into Alphabet, Apple and Meta for potentially breaching a landmark new law designed to prevent Big Tech having an unfair advantage over competitors.
Last year, Brussels designated six companies as "gatekeepers" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), meaning they were big and powerful enough to warrant extra regulation: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDance. They were given six months, until March 7, to comply with the rules, which aim to open up commonly used popular tech platforms and give users greater choice.
Violations could result in fines of as much as 10% of a company's global annual turnover. The EU Commission hopes to wrap up the probes within a year.