Nobody except European trustbusters seems happy.
Tech’s largest companies, so-called “gatekeepers,” argue that the DMA is degrading their products, eroding their privacy protections, and weakening their defenses against spam and hacking. They claim regulators are micromanaging, even determining what size font they can use on product screens. Some even worry that much of its valuable data will end up in Chinese hands.
Competitors are also angry. DuckDuckGo complained about Google’s large lead in Internet search, and Spotify about Apple’s app store and interoperability practices. They say the law has brought insufficient change in the marketplace. Even with the DMA, Google’s European market share remains nearly 90%, and Apple’s app store charges remain much higher in Europe than in the US..
European policymakers agree on the goal of jumpstarting digital-powered economic growth. They preach simplification of existing regulations and have agreed to reform the continent’s AI Act, extending deadlines and exempting more sectors from the Act’s strictures.
Yet deregulation remains taboo and the European Commission’s April 2026 review officially claims the DMA is “fit for purpose.” Europeans enjoy the freedom to move their data from one Internet service to another, increased choice to use alternative search engines and web browsers, and “a meaningful choice about whether to allow gatekeepers to combine their personal data across services, preventing unauthorized profiling,” the report asserts. The Commission even suggests an expansion, not a slimming down, of the DMA, enlarging its scope to include artificial intelligence and cloud computing, two sectors dominated by American companies.
Much of this hyperbole stretches the truth. Under the DMA, WhatsApp needed to allow calls from rival messaging services such as Signal and Telegram. Meta invested hundreds of hours to satisfy the requirement, only to find that the biggest rival messaging services proved unwilling to invest in “interoperability.” Two small European services, one in the Baltics and the other in the Balkans, took up the offer.
European users suffer. A desire to increase competition by boosting rival websites degrades gatekeeper products. Since Google is prohibited from preferring its own services, Europeans searching for a location now receive links to various map services, not a direct referral to Google Maps. Searches for weather lead to weather sites, not the current temperature and risk of rain or snow.
Instead of a single search, multiple clicks become mandatory. Search queries for “maps” and “Google Maps” increased by more than 20% across EU countries following these changes. More than the publicized fines, “gatekeepers” say they worry about intrusive interventions in their successful business models.
The biggest dangers concern privacy and security. The Commission hasordered Google to share much of its European search data with competitors. These include American AI companies such as OpenAI — and Chinese ones such as DeepSeek. Although the data is supposed to be anonymous, Google says it will be easy for competitors to trace it back to individuals.
Apple’s concerns revolve around sideloading — allowing third-party services to install applications outside its official app stores — and allowing those services wide access to interoperate with the Mac and iPhone’s iOS operating systems. The company says both practices endanger the defenses of Apple devices and risk allowing hackers or thieves to steal personal data and manipulate the company’s phones, tablets, and computers.
One concrete change concerns Wi-Fi. Instead of using its proprietary technology, Apple must now deploy open standards like Wi-Fi Aware, allowing peer-to-peer connections for third-party devices. Apple says this change could allow “data-hungry companies” to access sensitive user data. In response, Apple has delayed new features in its European products and services, such as live translation and device mirroring, further impacting consumers.
DMA investigations have sparked transatlantic tensions. The Trump administration says the law is a protectionist, “anti-American” measure that unfairly targets US tech giants. European regulators disagree, saying that the criteria for the gatekeeper designation are objective: companies must operate a “core platform service” such as a search engine, an app store, or marketplaces with 45 million monthly active users in the EU and 10,000+ yearly business users. China’s ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has also been named a gatekeeper.
In addition, most companies filing DMA complaints to the regulators are American. Rival search engine DuckDuckGo attacks Google. Meta would like to remove some of Apple’s restrictions — at the same time as the social media company itself has been judged a gatekeeper and received fines. During an earnings call, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Apple’s implementation of DMA rules as being “unfair” and designed to maintain a bottleneck.
Another irony, often remarked on in Brussels, is that the country imposing the strictest and most “effective” DMA-style changes is none other than the US. After losing a court case in San Francisco to Epic Games, a US judge ordered Apple to allow developers to link to external payment options in their apps without charging its usual 30% commission on those purchases. Apple has appealed to the Supreme Court. In contrast, Apple still charges between 13% and 20% in Europe.
Brussels wanted to force changes on Big Tech. It has. But those changes are not necessarily improving digital markets, delivering for consumers, or boosting economic growth. The DMA has generated legal fights and political drama, with little proof of helping European challengers or improving online services. A radical rethink is required.
William Echikson is a non-resident Senior Fellow at CEPA and editor of the Bandwidth Blog.
Dr. Anda Bologa is a senior researcher at CEPA.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions expressed on Bandwidth are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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