EU reaches agreement on landmark tech regulation legislation

European Union officials reached an agreement Thursday on new legislation that will regulate the world’s largest technology platforms in an effort to allow for greater competition.

The Digital Markets Act outlines legal responsibilities and restrictions for technology giants such as Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon, in addition to multiple smaller platforms, according to Politico.

The agreement, which was brokered by representatives from the European Parliament and the European Council, will apply to entities with market capitalization of 75 billion euros, the equivalent of roughly $83 billion, or more and entities with turnover in the European Economic Area of at least the same amount, Politico reported.

“The Digital Markets Act puts an end to the ever-increasing dominance of Big Tech companies,” said German European Parliament member Andreas Schwab. “From now on, Big Tech companies must show that they also allow for fair competition on the internet.”

Schwab added: “The new rules will help enforce that basic principle. The time of long antitrust cases is over during which the authorities were lagging behind the big tech companies. Europe is thus ensuring more competition, more innovation and more choice for users.”

The new rules will restrict platforms from gathering individuals’ data from multiple different sources as well as allowing users to download apps from separate, third-party platforms, Politico reported.

The agreement will also implement prohibitions on bundling services and self-preferencing practices, which allow platforms to prioritize or rank more highly their own products and services, according to the outlet.

The Digital Markets Act will also require large messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage to make their products interoperable with other messaging platforms, Politico reported.