Apple responds to the role of "gatekeeper": worries about the EU Digital Market Act

According to reports on the evening of September 6, Beijing time, Apple responded that the European Union today listed six major technology companies, including Apple and Google, as "gatekeepers" for online services. It is still concerned about privacy and security risks in the new EU Digital Market Act.

"our focus will be on how to mitigate these impacts and continue to provide our European customers with the best products and services," Apple said in a statement. "

Earlier today, the European Commission listed 22 Internet services from six major technology companies, including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, as "gatekeepers" for online services.

Under the Digital Markets Act, these services with more than 45 million monthly active users are required to perform risk management, conduct external and independent audits, and share data with authorities and researchers.

Overall, the bill will force the tech giants to do more to deal with illegal content or face fines up to 6 per cent of their global turnover.

Microsoft said today it accepted the EU's decision to designate it as the "gatekeeper" and welcomed the European Commission's investigation into Bing search, Edge browser and Microsoft Advertising (Microsoft Ads) to win future exemptions.

Oliver Bethell, Google's legal director, said: "over the past few months, we have been trying to meet the new requirements of the Digital Markets Act, and now we will conduct a comprehensive review of the EU decision."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also said it was still reviewing the European Commission's decision.