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Definition: Digital Markets Act


European regulations for tech companies. Enacted in 2022, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was created to provide fair competition between large and small players in the digital world. The targeted organizations are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. Known as "digital gatekeepers," the sectors they dominate are search engines, app stores, online marketplaces, advertising platforms, social networks, operating systems, video sharing and cloud services. With this legislation, the E.U. is being more forceful than the U.S.

A landmark result of DMA enforcement in 2024 was forcing Apple to allow European iPhone users to download iOS apps from third-party online stores. For example, the popular Fortnite video game was removed from the Apple App Store for several years due to a legal battle regarding royalties between Apple and Epic Games. See European regulations.