In early November, international media reported that Apple admitted that allowing iPhones to install third-party applications (outside the App Store) was inevitable, at least in European countries. This was the company's response to the European Union's (EU) Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into effect from May 2023.
However, recent moves suggest that Apple is planning to take action against the EU regarding the App Store and iMessage messaging features in the DMA. Reuters reported that Apple has officially filed a lawsuit to challenge the decisions of the European Commission (EC) stipulated in the DMA. This information initially appeared in a post from the account of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Apple to appeal European Commission's designation of its services under DMA
Details of the lawsuit have not been disclosed. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple would contest the inclusion of the App Store under review. In other words, Apple wants to appeal the EC’s decision to force users to install apps from outside software stores on iPhones, iPads, etc.
In a similar move, two tech giants, Meta and TikTok, also filed appeals against the European Commission’s decision regarding their services. Meta expressed disagreement with Europe when it designated Messenger and Marketplace services as covered by the DMA, but did not mention Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram - the other services it provides.
Meanwhile, TikTok said the EC's designation risks consolidating the power of dominant tech companies. The young video-sharing platform, which has been operating in Europe for only about five years, sees itself as "the most likely challenger to the established corporate platforms."
Under the DMA, the EC has the power to designate a digital platform as a “gatekeeper” if it plays a key role as a gateway between businesses and users in accessing core services. The law identifies 22 “gatekeeper” platforms, operated by six major technology companies: Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Meta and TikTok (owned by ByteDance).
The purpose of DMA is to simplify the ability for users to move services between competing providers, including cross-linking their messaging services between platforms, allowing customers to decide which software to pre-install on their devices.
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