This is the first according to March 7. investigation into non-compliance with the EU Digital Markets Act (SRA), which came into force and regulates the activities of companies considered by the Commission to be “access managers” in the digital economy.
The access manager is a company with a strong and powerful position in the EU’s digital economy, acting as an intermediary between many users and businesses.
The commission considers six companies as access controllers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, the owner of the TikTok platform, Meta and Microsoft.
Access managers who fail to comply with their obligations under the SRA may be subject to fines of up to 10%. annual revenue generated by the company worldwide. In case of repeated violations, the amount of the fine may increase up to 20%.
The investigation into Alphabet and Apple concerns an alleged breach of the SRA provision requiring access managers to ‘direct’ customers to offers outside their own app stores for free.
For example, these two companies “among other things, limit the ability of software developers to freely communicate and present their proposals and directly enter into contracts,” the Commission’s press release states.
It will also investigate whether Alphabet is favoring its own services when displaying search results on Google.
“The Commission is concerned that the measures Alphabet has implemented to comply with the SRA may not ensure that third-party services appearing in Google search results are treated fairly and without discrimination in relation to Alphabet’s own services “, the EU’s executive structure stated in its press release.
In addition, the Commission is investigating Apple’s compliance with various SRA rules governing consumers’ ability to choose between various services on its iOS smartphones and tablets.
Specifically, the investigation will look at whether iOS makes it easy enough for users to uninstall any app they don’t want and change their default settings.
The commission will also investigate whether Apple is properly complying with the SRA’s obligation to offer consumers alternatives to certain default apps and services, such as a web browser or search engine.
Meta is under investigation to determine whether a recently introduced policy asking users to choose whether to pay for services or consent to the company’s platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, sharing their personal data is not used for targeted advertising purposes.
“The Commission is concerned that the two options provided in Meta’s pay-or-opt model may not provide any real alternatives in the event that users do not give their consent, thus defeating the purpose of prohibiting access managers from collecting personal data,” – the EU’s executive body said on Monday.
While the Commission has not announced any SRA non-compliance investigations against Amazon, a press release on Monday indicated that Amazon may be favoring its own branded products in the Amazon Store.
The press release states that the Commission is taking “investigative steps to gather facts and information and determine whether” this is indeed the case.
It will also investigate whether the company’s rules for using alternative app stores on Apple devices “are consistent with the intent of its obligations.”
The EU enforcement body will also ask Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft to “retain documents to assess whether they are complying with their obligations under the SRA”.
As in the case of Amazon, the Commission did not announce any non-compliance investigation by Microsoft. The report also does not mention any action that will be taken against ByteDance.
Tags: Commission investigate Alphabet Apple Meta breached access managers rules
-
