Meta has confirmed that users in the EU, EEA and Switzerland will be able to unlink their Facebook and Instagram accounts in order to comply with the EU’s incoming Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Alphabet and Meta are two of the six companies named as ‘gatekeepers’ under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which will come into effect in March 2024. The law is part of the bloc’s effort to create a “rulebook” for online platforms, with the goal of creating “a safer and more open digital space, grounded in respect for fundamental rights”.
Meta said that over the next few weeks people will receive notifications that will inform them about their ability to choose whether they would like to share information between its different services.
People who have already chosen to connect their Instagram and Facebook accounts will be able to choose whether to continue as is, or to manage the accounts separately so their information is no longer used across accounts.
The same decision will also apply to Meta’s other services, including Facebook Messenger, Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Gaming.
“The DMA seeks to promote contestability and fairness in digital markets – an ambition that Meta supports,” the firm said in a blog post.
“We are committed to continue working hard to ensure that Meta’s products in the EU comply with the DMA and deliver value to people – we have assembled a large cross-functional team staffed by senior employees from around the globe and across our entire family of apps to achieve that.”
Under the legislation, platforms identified as gatekeepers must comply with stringent conduct rules, including allowing consumers to install third-party apps or app stores on their operating system and refraining from using data generated by competing businesses on their platforms. They will also be prohibited from ranking their own products or services more favourably than those of third parties in search results.
As well as Alphabet and Meta, the gatekeepers include Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and TikTok-owners ByteDance.
Google, Meta and Qualcomm recently formed an alliance dubbed The Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), with the stated aim to push for open digital ecosystems in response to the introduction of the DMA.
But as the firms typically benefit from closed ecosystems, and are not making the changes in other markets where the rule doesn’t apply, CODE is more likely designed to reduce the probability that they will face fines under the regulations, which could be as high as 20% of global revenue.
Source: E&T
