European Parliament passes two laws to regulate Big Tech companies

The European Parliament has passed the Digital Markets Act (DMS) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) which will help control the dominance of companies such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

The new rules would require that technology make their messaging services interoperable with smaller competitors. The DSA will target a wider range of internet actors and aims to ensure real consequences for companies that fall short of controlling hate speech, disinformation and child sexual abuse images.

The targets of the law include WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, the App Store, Google Play and many other services belonging to large tech firms. Both laws now require the final approval by the EU's 27 member states, which should be a formality.

The DMA will have major consequences for Google, Meta and Apple, that must now do business according to a list of do’s and don’ts intended to make sure smaller competitors can survive. Under DMA, tech giants such as Google and Apple will be forced to open up their services and platforms to other businesses.

Under the proposed Digital Markets Act, Apple would be forced to open up its App Store to third-party payment options instead of users being forced to use Apple's own payment system. Google will be asked to offer people who use smartphones which run on the company's Android operating system alternatives to its search engine, the Google Maps app or its Chrome browser.