European Commission Exempts iMessage and Bing from Stricter Regulations

On Tuesday, the European Commission announced that Apple’s messaging service “iMessage” and Microsoft’s search engine “Bing” will not be subject to new, stricter European rules starting in early March, aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices among technology giants.

In early September, the European Commission listed 22 major platforms belonging to six digital giants (American companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Chinese company ByteDance) on a list of entities that will be subject to strict regulatory measures under the Digital Markets Act starting from March 6.

These companies will have to adhere to a series of prohibitions and obligations aimed at preventing misuse of their dominant position on their website, under the risk of being fined up to 20% of their global sales.

The 22 platforms mentioned include four social networks (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), two instant messaging apps (WhatsApp and Messenger), three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows), a search engine (Google), and two internet browsers (Chrome and Safari).

The list also includes 6 mediation services (Google Maps, Google Play Store, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplaces, Apple App Store, and Meta Marketplaces), the video platform YouTube, as well as advertising services affiliated with Google, Amazon, and Meta.

Among the new regulations, the European Union will enforce a feature that allows for interoperability of targeted messaging services.

Google will be prohibited from adopting favoritism policies towards its services in its search engine results, after numerous allegations were levied against the giant company for employing such policies in its e-commerce service, “Google Shopping.”

The European Commission announced in September of last year the opening of investigations to determine whether “iMessage” and “Bing” should be included in the list, alongside Microsoft’s browser “Edge” and its advertising service.

The commission announced on Tuesday that it has “approved decisions to close these four investigations related to the market.”

These services are currently exempt from the new law, but the commission clarified that it will continue to “monitor market developments in case of substantial changes.”

The investigation, which was also opened in September, is still ongoing to include Apple’s operating system “iPad OS” within the scope of the new regulations. (AFP)