One For All: DMA 1st Anniversary
This year, March was a time for celebration in Europe as the continent marked the DMA 1st anniversary, celebrating one year since its landmark digital antitrust legislation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), came into force. Designed to dismantle the unfair, monopolistic advantages enjoyed by companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta, the DMA has, for the last 12 months, been helping developers and marketers in the app economy outside the Silicon Valley bubble enjoy the business freedoms they deserve.
What’s more, this also means that I’ve been writing these blogs on the subject for a year too! So what better way to commemorate this than with another update about the goings on in the world of the DMA. With fines, international tensions, and the DMA 1st anniversary making headlines, March 2025 was full of drama. Let’s dive into what the month had to offer.
Unwanted Presents: Apple and Google Face Noncompliance Fines
The big news last month—timed closely with the DMA 1st anniversary—was that, after months of speculation, the EU finally declared that it is going to fine Apple and Google for DMA-noncompliance. As the Guardian reported, the European Commission announced that, in its “preliminary view,” Google’s search engine still prioritises results promoting its own services over its rivals, and that Apple still hasn’t done enough to enable third-party interoperability with iOS.
As a result, both companies could be fined up to 10 percent of their respective global revenues. The announcement comes after the EU launched noncompliance probes into Apple and Google in March last year—almost as soon as the DMA itself was launched! This escalation, landing in the same month as the DMA 1st anniversary, sends a clear message that the EU is ramping up its enforcement efforts.
Yet while this sounds like a forthright move from the EU—especially given the threats Donald Trump has made regarding retaliatory tariffs—all might not be what it seems. According to the Financial Times, Brussels is apparently considering issuing minimal penalties to avoid inflaming tensions with the White House. All of which makes the EU’s announcement seem a little less brave. But perhaps it’s all spin—time will tell.
Regardless of how much the fines amount to, what’s clear—especially in the context of the DMA 1st anniversary—is that the EU is serious about enforcement, which can only be a good thing.
Pass the Parcel: the World Celebrates the DMA’s Success
Perhaps one of the greatest measures of the DMA’s success, highlighted by the DMA 1st anniversary, is the number of countries that have since adopted similar antitrust legislation. And for that matter, March was also a busy month for governments worldwide battling against digital monopolies.
First up there was Brazil, which ordered Apple to allow alternative app stores on iOS within 90 days. This comes after a legal ruling that declared that iOS’s closed system and restrictions on third-party app sales necessitate such an intervention. Indeed, following in Europe’s footsteps, Brazil’s proposed Bill Regulating Digital Platforms—still awaiting parliamentary approval—will similarly crackdown on digital monopolies.
And then there was Turkey. As Fortune reported, its DMA-style legislation is set to arrive in parliament for approval soon, and will enforce interoperability, prevent large companies in the digital sector from self-preferencing their services, and—crucially—allow users to install third-party apps.
Finally, there was Japan, too, where a smartphone focussed DMA-style analogue is already shaking up the market, allowing smaller companies in the app economy to avail themselves of a freshly levelled playing field.
Consequently, as the EU celebrates the DMA 1st anniversary, the world is paying close attention. As such, although recent tensions between the EU and the US are a cause for concern, marketers and developers should be reassured that, while Trump and Silicon Valley might dislike the DMA, the rest of the world has its own opinion.
DMA 1st Anniversary Opinion: Is the DMA Actually Pro-American?
Previously in this opinion-led section of my blogs, I’ve pondered the idea—beloved by the EU’s critics—of whether the DMA is anti-American. But what about the opposite? Could the DMA, in fact, be pro-USA? For California’s Y Combinator, it certainly is. As per a report by TechCrunch, the revered American startup accelerator intervened in the recent dispute between Europe and the US over the DMA, urging the White House to see the European legislation as a defender of that cherished American value, free trade.
“[W]e respectfully urge the White House to recalibrate its stance toward Europe’s digital regulation, drawing a clear line between measures that hamper innovation and those that foster it,” it wrote in a letter.
Naturally, some American institutions don’t agree. The Information, Innovation, and Technology Foundation (IITF), for instance, has repeatedly insinuated the line, made by the White House and Silicon Valley alike, that the DMA effectively discriminates against American companies.
Putting aside allegations that the IITF is in fact funded by some of the companies targeted by the DMA, this is nevertheless a very partial view. As EU lawmakers reiterated to the US in a recent trip to Washington, there is nothing in the DMA that stipulates targeting US firms. Moreover, and as Y Combinator intuits, US businesses stand to gain more by supporting the DMA, which will allow smaller companies from all over the world to trade in Europe, unimpeded by monopolistic practices.
It’s a timely reminder, especially during the DMA 1st anniversary, that the act isn’t about where a company is from—it’s about how it behaves. Money talks, as the saying goes. And if the White House is truly committed to freedom, it should listen to voices outside Silicon Valley.
And that’s all from me on this very special occasion—the DMA 1st anniversary. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading. Please share if you do! I’ll see you again next month.
-Robert.