Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), will not be designated as a “gatekeeper” under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to sources familiar with the matter. This decision spares X from a strict set of obligations that other major tech firms must follow.
The European Commission, which initiated an investigation into X in May, is expected to officially announce the decision next week. However, the EU’s competition authority has so far declined to comment.
Although X meets the DMA’s user threshold for being classified as a gatekeeper, the company argued it doesn’t fulfill another key requirement—serving as a critical conduit between businesses and consumers. This claim triggered the Commission’s investigation earlier this year to delve deeper into the platform’s role.
Unlike X, several tech giants, including Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, and Booking.com, have been labeled as gatekeepers under the DMA. These firms must comply with stringent rules, such as making their messaging services interoperable with competitors and giving users the freedom to choose which apps to pre-install. Violations of the DMA could result in fines up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue.
The decision to exempt X from the gatekeeper classification comes as the European Union ramps up its regulatory scrutiny of Big Tech.
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