DMA

in English: Digital Markets Act

basicwidespread

An EU regulation that prescribes what the largest digital platforms, the so-called gatekeepers, must do and what is forbidden to ensure fair competition.

In plain terms

Imagine a city where you can only enter via a few bridges, and each is owned by a private company. Whoever owns the bridge decides who can cross, at what cost, and can place their own shop in the best spot at the bridgehead. In the digital world, such bridges are the search engine, the app store, the phone operating system, or the major messaging service.

The DMA sets predefined rules for these bridge owners, officially known as gatekeepers. They cannot, for example, prevent users from installing apps from other sources, cannot prioritize their own services in search results, and cannot combine data collected about you from their various services without your consent.

It differs from traditional competition law in that it does not examine abuse in a retrospective, years-long procedure. It states in advance what is mandatory and what is forbidden, and applies only to the largest players.

This is important because of AI: assistants and agents reach you through the same gates. If the giant company providing your phone's operating system only allows its own assistant deep access to the system, competitors are at a disadvantage even if they are better.

How it works

The European Commission designates gatekeepers. As a general rule, a company is placed on the list if its annual EU turnover is at least €7.5 billion or its market value is at least €75 billion, and at least 45 million monthly users and 10,000 business partners annually use one of its core platform services in the EU. The Commission can also designate a company that does not meet these thresholds based on a specific investigation.
The designation applies to specific services, such as a search engine, an app store, a browser, or a messaging app, not the entire company.
The gatekeeper has six months from designation to comply with the obligations. These include a ban on favoring its own services, allowing alternative app stores and payment methods, data portability, and interoperability of messaging services.
Companies report in a document how they comply with the rules. The Commission checks this and can launch an investigation if it considers the solution insufficient.
In case of violation, the fine can reach up to 10 percent of the company's global annual revenue, and up to 20 percent in case of repeated offenses. If a gatekeeper repeatedly violates the rules, the Commission can mandate structural changes, and in extreme cases, even the divestiture of a business unit.

An everyday example

You set up a new phone, and a screen appears where you choose which browser should be the default (on Android, you can also choose the search engine this way). This choice screen was added due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA): the giant company providing the phone system cannot silently decide for you to use its own product.

Who is affected

everyoneYou have more choices on your phone and on the major platforms, and more say in what happens to your data.

entrepreneur, executiveIf you reach your customers through major platforms, you can expect fairer terms and access to your own customer data.

developerYou can distribute your application or your AI agent in an alternative store and request access to system functions that were previously accessible only to the platform's own products. → Code

marketerGatekeepers must provide more transparent advertising data, while linking user data requires consent, which narrows targeting. → Marketing

A common misconception

MythThe DMA regulates AI and applies to every technology company.

In realityThe DMA is a competition rule applying only to a few giant platforms designated by the Commission. Risks of AI systems are addressed by the AI Act; the DMA affects AI only indirectly, through assistants and agents built into platforms.

Limits and risks

Generative AI itself is not listed among the regulation's core platform services, making it debatable how well it captures concentration in the AI market.
Enforcing rules is slow: gatekeepers often do the minimum, and investigations and court cases can take years.
According to the companies, some new features, including AI services, arrive late or in reduced form in the EU because of the DMA, so a wider choice sometimes comes with fewer new features.
Openness can also bring security risks: with apps installed from outside the official store, you must pay closer attention to where you download from.

Similar, but not the same

Digital Services Act (DSA) – The DSA concerns content and user protection (illegal content, transparency), while the DMA concerns market competition.
AI-rendelet (AI Act) – The AI Act regulates AI systems according to their risk, while the DMA limits the market power of platforms regardless of the technology they use.
GDPR – GDPR is a data protection rule applying to everyone, while DMA applies only to gatekeepers and restricts data processing from a competition perspective.

Related concepts

Broader

EU digital regulation, Versenyjog, Platform regulation

Narrower

Gatekeeper, Core platform service, Interoperability, Data portability

On the edge

Digital Services Act (DSA), AI-rendelet (AI Act), GDPR, Adatrendelet (Data Act), vendor lock-in

A brief history

The European Commission proposed it in December 2020, as part of a package with the DSA. The regulation was adopted in 2022 and became applicable in May 2023. In September 2023, the Commission designated the first six gatekeepers, who had to comply by March 2024.

Where things stand

The regulation applies in full. In April 2025, the Commission imposed the first fines: Apple received 500 million euros, and Meta 200 million euros. One key question in the first review launched in 2025 is whether the rules should be extended to AI services and the cloud. In November 2025, the Commission also launched separate market investigations into cloud services.

Status: 2026 November

In the news

Appears in 1 Agent Age stories; the curve shows weekly occurrence in the news magazine.

European transparency rules on labelling AI text and content affect marketersAug 10, 2026 · Marketing

Also known as

DMA · Digital Markets Act · Digital Markets Act · Digital Markets Act · Digital Markets Act · (EU) 2022/1925 rendelet · gatekeeper decree · EU DMA

Sources

European Commission – Digital Markets Act

This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.