Apple’s iMessage escapes DMA regulation by the EU

The European Commission has announced that it won’t designate Apple’s iMessage as a ‘core platform service’ under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The decision is the culmination of a five-month investigation, which also resulted in the Commission deciding to not designate Microsoft’s Edge browser, Bing search engine, and advertising business as core platform services. The EU says these services don’t qualify as gatekeeper services, though The Verge notes that all of them meet the quantitative thresholds for core platform service designation set out by the DMA.

Practically, this means that iMessage won’t be required to offer interoperability with other messaging services. Meanwhile, other messaging apps, such as Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, were designated as core platform services and, under the DMA, must be interoperable with third-party services. WhatsApp already detailed how this interoperability will work.

The Verge also points out that, while iMessage has escaped DMA regulation, it doesn’t mean Apple hasn’t made any concessions. Notably, Apple finally said it would support Rich Communication Services (RCS), which will upgrade the much-maligned ‘green bubbles’ with modern features and improved security. Apple announced support for RCS on November 16th, which also happened to be the deadline for appealing the Commission’s DMA designation (surely those have nothing to do with each other).

Moreover, other Apple services will be regulated under the DMA. Those include the Safari browser, the App Store, and even iOS itself. The company recently detailed the changes it’s making to those platforms in the EU to comply with the DMA, but critics have been vocal about glaring flaws with Apple’s compliance.

Source: European Commission Via: The Verge