Apple to challenge European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech companies

Apple will challenge the European Union’s fresh crackdown on Big Tech’s dominance in the first of what is expected to be several appeals against the Digital Markets Act, reports Bloomberg.

The tech giant will dispute the EU regulator’s decision to put all of the App Store into the bloc’s new digital antitrust list, the article adds. It’ll argue also its iMessage service shouldn’t be subject to closer scrutiny from regulators.

The appeal has not yet been formally filed; the deadline for companies to challenge is next Thursday, November 16.

On September 6, the EU officially designated the Apple App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system as “gatekeepers,” an official classification that requires adherence to strict new regulations.

Under the new regulations, it will be illegal for certain platforms to favor their own services over those of rivals. They’ll be barred from combining personal data across their different services, prohibited from using data they collect from third-party merchants to compete against them, and will have to allow users to download apps from rival platforms.

According to the Financial Times, six firms ranging from Apple to TikTok, and some 20 of their services, will be affected by the Digital Marketing Act.. Each firm will be required to make their services interoperable with rivals, and also to link to their competitors.

The EU is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its policies aim “to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development.”