The legislation was expedited by lawmakers in anticipation of the July general election.
A piece of legislation that is the United Kingdom’s version of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that was passed by the European Union has been approved. In preparation for the general election that will take place in July, legislators have expedited the passage of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill before the house is dissolved on May 30.
The Digital marketplaces and Competition Commission (DMCC), which is going to be enacted into law after it receives Royal Assent, has the overarching goal of “regulating and increasing competition in digital markets.” Towards the end of this year, it will become effective.
This measure is quite similar to the Digital Media Act (DMA), which resulted in the European Union (EU) designating the services and products of a number of significant technology corporations as “gatekeepers” and putting more stringent regulations on those companies. The Digital Markets Commission (DMCC) provides the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which is a division of the Competition and Markets jurisdiction, with the jurisdiction to designate as having Strategic Market Status (SMS) businesses that possess “substantial and entrenched market power” and “a position of strategic significance.”
SMS service providers will be required to comply with a variety of norms of behavior, including those that have been established by the DMU. Fair trade, openness, trust, and transparency will serve as the foundations upon which these will be built. The DMU has a wide range of options available to it when it comes to determining the conduct standards for each company. It is possible for a firm to incur a fine equal to up to ten percent of its total revenue worldwide if it violates its code of conduct.
As a result of the use of their work in Google News and possibly even for artificial intelligence products, it has been suggested that companies like as Meta and Google might be required to compensate UK news publishers for their contributions. Some individuals have proposed that Apple might be compelled to permit sideloading and third-party app stores on iOS, similar to how it is done in the European Union. Additionally, it is possible that businesses may be restricted from giving their own goods and services higher priority in search results. It should be noted, however, that the particular requirements for each SMS have not yet been specified.
Additionally, the DMCC has ramifications for a variety of topics, including but not limited to subscriptions, garbage fees, bogus reviews, ticket resales, mergers, antitrust, and consumer protection. If it is determined that a corporation has breached a consumer law, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will have the authority to levy a significant fine for the very first time, and it will not be required to go through the courts in order to do so.
A minimum of one tangible consequence has already been brought about as a result of the DMCC. In the latter half of the year 2025, Epic Games has committed to bringing its shop and Fortnite on iOS devices in the United Kingdom. After the Digital Music Act (DMA) went into effect, the publisher had previously stated that it would introduce the Epic Games Store to mobile devices in the European Union (EU) later this year.
Shoutout to the UK for passing a new competition law 🎉
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) May 24, 2024
Epic Games Store and Fortnite are coming to iOS in the UK in the second half of 2025 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Szaw08vPya
More information regarding Epic Games’ plan to bring its store and Fortnite to iOS in the United Kingdom has been added as of 5/24 at 4:20 PM Eastern Time.