This article invites UX professionals, both in the EU and around the world, to explore how the new rules on competition for Big Tech would influence the user experience

On March 25th, 2024, The New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, and Al Jazeera — amongst other trusted news outlets — broke the news that will affect millions of end-users in the EU zone and potentially inspire lawmakers in other continents to apply similar rules within their jurisdiction.

We learned that Big Tech companies like Alphabet, Apple, and Meta were under investigation due to potential violations of the EU’s new competition law. While these firms didn’t delay in releasing official statements suggesting they will constructively engage with legal authorities, there hasn’t been much discussion yet on how these new regulations would impact the end-user experience.

What do we need to know about the new ‘revolutionary’ laws?

It’s clear that legal professionals and the members of the European Commission (the EU’s executive arm) can speak more about the technical details of these new laws that are now impacting companies (Big Tech groups being the first to face full investigations). That being said, the basics are all too clear for everyone to understand:

1. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) defines the new competition rules for Big Tech in their EU zone operations. This act follows the Digital Services Act (DSA), whose focus predominantly has been content moderation, user privacy, and transparency.
2. In practical terms, the DMA forces companies like Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and TikTok to open up their platforms in a way that smaller rivals can have more access to their users.
3. This translates to breaking up the Big Tech’s closed ecosystems that currently lock consumers into a single company’s products or services. Some examples news outlets give of this “locking” include Meta’s “pay or consent” subscription model, Google (Alphabet) prioritizing Google Shopping and Google Flights in their search results, and more.

What are some relevant…