Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and others accused by rivals of not respecting new EU competition rules

cnbc.com:

A raft of major technology and media companies have signed an open letter accusing tech giants of failing to bring their businesses into full compliance with incoming European Union digital competition rules.

The signatories say that companies defined by the EU as «gatekeepers,» including Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok owner ByteDance, haven't done enough to engage effectively with them and others in their industry.

Under the EU's Digital Markets Act, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization over 75 billion euros ($81.2 billion) are considered gatekeepers.

They are required to, for example, make their messaging apps work with those of rivals, and let users decide which apps come pre-installed with their devices.

Another EU requirement is that these platforms do not implement practices that lead to the «self-preferencing» of their services over others.

The open letter, which was signed by international media group Schibsted, eco-friendly search engine Ecosia, privacy-focused search engine Qwant, secure messaging app Element, and VPN service ProtonVPN, said the gatekeepers «have either failed to engage in a dialogue with third parties or have presented solutions falling short of compliance with the DMA.»

They also said that businesses and consumers have been largely «kept in the dark» about what's going to happen after March 7, 2024 — a pivotal deadline by which all six Big Tech gatekeepers need to get their businesses into compliance with the DMA.

«The signatories of this letter represent thousands of businesses affected by the DMA,» the letter stated. «They urge the gatekeepers to engage as soon as possible with business users and other stakeholders, such as