Report: Apple and Microsoft Don’t Want EU’s ‘Gatekeeper’ Status for iMessage and Bing

Apple and Microsoft are reportedly opposed to seeing their own iMessage and Bing services being labeled as “gatekeepers” under the EU’s new Digital Markets Act. The new legislation, which aims to regulate large online platforms in Europe, will force services classified as “gatekeepers” to respect certain obligations regarding competition and interoperability.

As the European Union is set to publish a first list of “gatekeepers” tomorrow, a report from the Financial Times reveals that Apple and Microsoft have both argued that iMessage and Bing aren’t big enough to be regulated. The EU’s Digital Markets Act designates “gatekeepers” as platforms with over 45 million monthly active users in the EU, with an annual turnover of more than €7.5 billion and a market capitalization above €75 billion.

“Microsoft had rejected the notion that Bing should be subject to the same obligations placed on its much larger rival, Google Search, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Microsoft was unlikely to dispute the designation of its Windows operating system, which dominates the PC industry, as a gatekeeper, these people said. But it has argued that Bing has a market share of just 3 per cent and that further legal scrutiny would put it at a greater disadvantage,” the report reads.

The Financial Times reports that Apple separately argued that its iMessage shouldn’t be considered as a gatekeeper in Europe as its local user base isn’t big enough to qualify. iMessage is really popular in the US where the iPhone has a bigger market share, but not so much in Europe where WhatsApp and other messaging apps get more usage.

“Brussels is still deliberating over the inclusion of iMessage and Bing in the final list. The European Commission may open a probe to determine if these services should face the new obligations set out in the DMA,” the Financial Times reported.

If the EU does recognize Bing and iMessage as “gatekeepers,” the consequences could be pretty massive for both services. As an example, Bing would need to give users the choice to switch to another search engine, while iMessage would need to become interoperable with WhatsApp and other messaging apps. How that would work in practice is still not exactly clear.