Author: Konstantina Bania
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Meta’s Moderation Shift and the TikTok Ban: what’s cooking in the US and what this means for EU platform regulation
The beginning of 2025 was marked by two important developments in the digital platform landscape. First, Meta announced that it would change the content moderation policies of Facebook and Instagram in the US, significantly reducing the amount of fact-checking. However, this decision will not come without regulatory challenges on the other side of the Atlantic;…
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The DMA’s applicability to business-to-consumer services (and how content creators can lead to DMA designation)
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a landmark piece of legislation that regulates the conduct of gatekeeper platforms, that is, platforms which (a) offer a “core platform service” (CPS), and (b) act as gateways for businesses to reach end users. The DMA started to apply in May 2023. Since then, an interesting line of case…
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The interplay between digital regulations (and what it means for regulatory cooperation)
A few years ago, digital services were mainly subject to horizontal rules (i.e., rules that apply to all sectors of the economy), such as competition rules, consumer protection regulation, and data protection regulation. Until recently, these rules were not well-equipped to address the challenges posed by digital technologies. As regards sector-specific instruments, digital services were…
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Full steam ahead: The Commission announces DMA investigations three weeks after gatekeepers publish (non-)compliance reports
On 25 March 2024, the Commission announced that it had opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into three of the companies that have been designated as gatekeepers, namely Alphabet, Apple, and Meta. These investigations concern various issues, including rules on steering in app stores, choice screens for browsers, self-preferencing in general search,…
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7 March is DMA D-Day: What does this mean?
Today, the large digital platforms that have been designated by the European Commission as “gatekeepers” must start to comply with the Digital Markets Act (or DMA). This marks a milestone for businesses operating in the EU because the DMA will resolve many challenges they face in their relations with gatekeepers, such as lack of access…
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Does the DMA (effectively) protect fairness in platform-to-consumer relations?
Fairness is one of the two objectives pursued by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Aside from making some sparse and broad references to what may constitute an unfair practice (see, for instance, Recital (33)), the DMA does not establish a normative definition of fairness based on criteria that could serve as benchmarks against which to…
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Will DMA proceedings make competition law obsolete? No they won’t
On 6 September 2023, the European Commission adopted the first “designation” decisions under the Digital Markets Act (or “DMA”). Those decisions designate as “gatekeepers” certain tech companies which offer core platform services that meet specific quantitative criteria (e.g., they reach 45 million end users). We are now gearing up for effective compliance, which will play…
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European Commission adopts first DMA designation decisions
Today marks a milestone in EU platform regulation. The European Commission adopted the first “designation” decisions under the Digital Markets Act (or DMA). Those decisions designate as “gatekeepers” certain tech companies which offer core platform services that meet specific quantitative criteria (e.g., they reach 45 million end users). The tech companies that have been designated as gatekeepers…
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The proposed Platform Work Directive and employment status misclassification: Distinguishing between employers and digital labour intermediaries
On 9 December 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a proposal for a Directive on improving conditions in platform work (“Platform Work Directive” or “PWD”). This initiative adds to the EU’s portfolio in the area of platform regulation but contrary to other instruments that deal with platform-to-business and platform-to-consumer relations (e.g., the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act),…