It complies with guidelines set forth in the Digital Markets Act, which takes effect in March.
Since the beginning of this year, Meta has been battling against the forthcoming restrictions that will be included in the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union. The business has declared that it would comply with the DMA’s requirement that it cannot favor its own services or force consumers to remain within its ecosystem. This is something that the company has announced. The user experience that Meta provides in the European Union will be significantly altered as a result of this move, which will enable anyone to use Messenger and Facebook Marketplace without having a Facebook account. A previous appeal was submitted by Meta, in which they argued that the two platforms should not be included in the DMA.
As a result of this concession, users in the European Union who have Messenger and Facebook Marketplace accounts can now access all of the features and functionality of these services through standalone accounts. Conversations will take place via email, which is the only distinction between Marketplace and other platforms. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta advertisements are all included in the restrictions that the European Commission has placed on Meta. These restrictions also apply to Facebook Marketplace and Messenger. As an illustration, individuals are now able to maintain a separation between their Facebook and Instagram profiles, rather than integrating information between the two distinct networks.
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft were the six businesses that were first designated as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Media Action (DMA) by the European Commission. Between them, there are 22 essential platform services that are subject to the authority of the legislation due to factors such as the number of users, income, and valuation. This was another factor that determined whether or not they were qualified: “if they provide an important gateway between businesses and consumers in relation to core platform services.” Among the other businesses that have taken a stand against the DMA’s laws in advance of their implementation in March 2024, ByteDance and Apple are among those who have done so. On the other hand, Google, which is controlled by Alphabet, recently made an announcement that consumers have the ability to prevent its platforms, such as Chrome and YouTube, from sharing data.