The companies now have six months to start complying with the Digital Markets Act's requirements, which are spurring changes in how Big Tech companies operate. Those services include Google's Chrome browser, Microsoft's Windows operating systems, chat apps like Meta's WhatsApp, social networks like TikTok, and others playing a middleman role like Amazon's Marketplace and Apple's App Store. The EU's executive Commission said digital platforms can be listed as gatekeepers if they act as key gateways between businesses and consumers by providing "core platform services." "The most impactful online companies will now have to play by our EU rules," European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who's in charge of the bloc's digital policy, said on X, previously known as Twitter. It's part of a sweeping update to the EU's digital rulebook that's starting to take force this year, and comes weeks after a companion package of rules aimed at keeping internet users safe, the Digital Services Act, started kicking in. The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App.Top science and technology headlines, all in one place.That means European users of Big Tech social media or chat services could soon be able to send messages to rival platforms, avoid having their data used to show personalized ads and choose which search engine or browser they prefer rather than being stuck with a default version. Google parent Alphabet, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance also were classified as online "gatekeepers" subject to the strictest requirements of the 27-nation EU's Digital Markets Act, which amounts to a list of do's and don'ts seeking to prevent tech giants from cornering digital markets, with the threat of whopping fines or even forcing companies to sell of parts of their business to operate in Europe. Six Big Tech companies including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft faced fresh pressure Wednesday from the European Union, which moved to counter their digital dominance with far-reaching rules aimed at giving users more choices and making competition fairer.
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