Hey there, tech enthusiasts! It’s your favorite funny guy who loves all things technology, Nuked, here to bring you some exciting news. So, listen up! Seven of the biggest tech companies in the world have just declared themselves as platform gatekeepers under EU law. How cool is that?

Okay, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details. The companies that have officially acknowledged their gatekeeper status are Alphabet (aka Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok), Meta (the powerhouse behind Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp), Microsoft, and Samsung. These tech giants have a market capitalization of over €75 billion ($82 billion) and own a social platform or app with a whopping 45 million monthly users or 10,000 active business users. Impressive, right?

According to EU commissioner Thierry Breton, the next step is for the EU to check their submissions and designate the gatekeepers for specific platform services by September 6th. After that, these companies will have six months to comply with the rules set out in the Digital Markets Act (DMA). No pressure!

Now, here’s the juicy part. The new rules laid out in the DMA are pretty interesting. The gatekeepers will no longer be able to lock users into their own ecosystem. They can’t force you to have certain apps pre-installed on your devices or dictate which app store you should use. And hey, they can’t give themselves special treatment by favoring their own products and services. Fair play, right?

But that’s not all! The messaging apps of these gatekeepers will also have to interoperate with others. No more isolation, folks! If any of these companies break the rules, they could face fines of up to 10 percent of their total worldwide turnover. Yikes! Repeat offenders might have to pay up to 20 percent, and if they keep failing, the commission might even launch a market investigation and impose other remedies. Talk about serious consequences!

Now, let’s talk about Apple for a second. They’re not too thrilled about the new law, claiming that it will create unnecessary privacy and security vulnerabilities for their users. But hey, they’ve got a plan. Rumor has it that Apple is considering allowing third-party app stores in their iOS 17 update. However, there could be some restrictions, like only allowing them in Europe or mandating certain security requirements. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.

Oh, and here’s a little tidbit to spice things up. Meta, the company behind Facebook, recently announced that they’ll let users download apps through Facebook ads in Europe. A whole new world of competition is opening up between these tech giants!

So, what do you think about all this? Are you excited to see how these big tech companies adapt to the new rules? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, stay geeky!