Digital Markets Act (DMA)
Also known as: DMA, EU Digital Markets Act, gatekeeper regulation, Regulation (EU) 2022/1925
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an EU law that imposes upfront competition rules on the largest digital platforms, called gatekeepers, such as Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance.
While traditional antitrust cases take years to prove harm after the fact, the DMA lists what gatekeepers must and must not do in advance. It's why iPhone users in the EU can install alternative app stores and why Europeans see browser choice screens.
Digital Markets Act (DMA), explained at three levels
At home
Think of the DMA as rules for the owners of the biggest shopping malls. If a company owns the mall, it can't rig the layout to favour its own shops or force every tenant to use its own checkout. For you, that means choice screens for your default browser or search engine, the ability to delete preinstalled apps, and, on iPhones in the EU, alternative app stores.
At work
The DMA is an EU competition law that sets upfront rules for 'gatekeepers,' the largest platforms controlling important digital services such as app stores, search engines, operating systems, and messaging. Rather than waiting years for an antitrust case, it lists what gatekeepers must and must not do. Businesses care because it opens up access: app developers can steer customers to outside offers, and business users can get their platform data.
At home
The DMA works through designated 'core platform services,' such as an app store, a browser, or a messaging app. For each one, the gatekeeper must follow fixed rules. It cannot combine your data across its services for advertising without your consent, must let you uninstall preinstalled apps and change defaults easily, and must let you move your data to rivals. Gatekeeper messaging apps must also connect with smaller messaging services that ask for it.
At work
Designation is mostly by numbers. A company is presumed a gatekeeper if it has €7.5 billion in annual EU turnover or a €75 billion market value, and a core platform service with 45 million monthly end users and 10,000 yearly business users in the EU, sustained over three years. Gatekeepers must then allow alternative payment and distribution options, stop self-preferencing in rankings, let business users reach customers outside the platform, and provide data portability and access.
At home
The DMA sets the outcomes, but each gatekeeper designs how it complies, and that's where the friction lives. Apple's alternative app stores came with a new per-install fee and strict eligibility rules, which critics said undermined the point, and Meta's 'pay or consent' model drew a fine. The Commission reviews each design and pushes back. In my view, the DMA has become an ongoing negotiation between the Commission and each gatekeeper, rather than a one-time fix.
At work
Enforcement sits with the European Commission, which can open non-compliance proceedings, as it did before fining Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million in 2025. Fines can reach 10% of global turnover, or 20% for repeat breaches, and systematic non-compliance can lead to structural remedies such as selling off a business. For companies that depend on gatekeepers, the DMA lowers distribution costs and improves data access, but frequent platform rule changes can disrupt existing integrations.
Real-world examples
At home
Marcus, an Irish iPhone user, saw a choice screen asking him to pick a default browser after a software update. He chose a smaller privacy-focused browser instead of the default, an option the DMA requires gatekeepers to offer.
At work
Nadia runs a European music streaming startup. Under the DMA, her app could tell iPhone users about a cheaper subscription available on her website. That change improved her margins, though she still had to navigate Apple's revised fee structure for EU apps.
Common confusions
- The DMA applies to all tech companies. — It applies only to companies designated as gatekeepers for specific core platform services.
- The DMA is a privacy law. — It's a competition law, though some obligations, such as consent for combining data, overlap with privacy goals.
- DMA changes apply worldwide. — Most obligations apply to services in the EU. Gatekeepers often limit changes to EU users.
For analysts
If your business depends on a gatekeeper platform, the DMA may open new options, such as steering customers to your own checkout. I'd assign someone to track each gatekeeper's compliance updates, because the terms keep changing and the savings can be significant.
History & origin
The European Commission proposed the DMA in December 2020, frustrated by long antitrust cases against big tech that ended in fines but little change in behaviour. The DMA entered into force on November 1, 2022, and applied from May 2, 2023. In September 2023, the Commission designated six gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, with Booking added in 2024. Gatekeepers had to comply by March 7, 2024. The Commission's first DMA fines came in April 2025: €500 million for Apple over app store anti-steering rules and €200 million for Meta over its 'pay or consent' model. In my opinion, the DMA's success depends less on the fines than on whether the changes actually create real competition, and that's still an open question.