Platforms and Big Tech Tracker
Platforms and Big Tech Tracker expanded to include two new benchmarks on ex-ante designations and ex-ante investigations in competition and online safety
As the implementation and enforcement of ex-ante frameworks for competition and online safety ramp up in the EU and the UK, we’ve expanded our Platforms and Big Tech Tracker to include two new benchmarks. ‘Ex-ante Designations’ benchmarks the designation of platforms as Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), as gatekeepers with core platform services under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as firms with strategic market status (SMS) under the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act, and eventually as categorised services under the Online Safety Act. ‘Ex-ante Investigations’ benchmarks each enforcement proceeding launched by regulators under these pieces of legislation, including any provisional findings and enforcement activity. Together, they offer a comprehensive picture of the new regulatory burdens placed on tech platforms in one unified place.
Both benchmarks currently reflect 36 pending or completed designation decisions related to 20 firms and 11 pending investigations into seven firms. By way of example, Apple services are the subject of five different designation decisions under three regulatory frameworks, two of which remain pending. According to our Ex-ante Investigations benchmark, there are currently two investigations pending into Apple services, both under the DMA. In one of those investigations into Apple’s App Store and Safari browser, the EC has issued its preliminary finding that the firm is in breach of the DMA, and a final decision in that inquiry is statutorily required by 25 March 2025. Both benchmarks will be updated on an ongoing basis.
