European Commission does not consider X a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act

After careful consideration, the European Commission finds that X should not be designated as a core platform service under the Digital Markets Act.

The Digital Markets Act or DMA is legislation that was drafted to protect European consumers from powerful tech companies that abuse their dominant market position, offer them greater choice, and create a level-playing field for newcomers. The DMA went into effect in November 2022, but became applicable in May 2023.

The DMA targets the largest players and digital platforms that operate in the EU, which are also known as gatekeepers. These are companies with an annual turnover of at least € 7.5 billion in the EU, and had at least 45 million monthly active users in the last financial year.

The European Commission has identified over twenty tech companies that offer ‘core platform services’ in the EU, including Alphabet, Apple and Meta. They had until March 2024 to comply with all of the DMA’s provisions.

In March 2024, X sent out a notification to the European Commission in which the social media platform argued that it didn’t meet the DMA thresholds and therefore should not be subjected to the new EU rules. It also submitted rebuttal arguments, explaining why it should not be considered qualified as a gateway between businesses and consumers.

In May the European Commission decided to launch an investigation into X’s status as a potential gatekeeper. After several months of research, the Commission has come to the conclusion that the messaging platform does not meet the thresholds set out in the DMA.

“Following a thorough assessment of all arguments, including input by relevant stakeholders, and after consulting the Digital Markets Advisory Committee, the Commission concluded that X does indeed not qualify as a gatekeeper in relation to its online social networking service, given that the investigation revealed that X is not an important gateway for business users to reach end users,” the European Commission says in a press release.

The Commission promises to continue monitoring the developments on the market. Should any substantial changes arise, then it will review its current decision.

Last month, the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC), the European consumer organization that represents the interests of all European consumers, claimed that numerous gatekeepers are not living up to the rules that have been laid down in the DMA, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft.