The European Commission has announced that Apple's iMessage, along with Microsoft's Edge browser, Bing search engine, and advertising business, will not be considered as 'core platform services' under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). This decision implies that these services will not be bound by stringent associated obligations and other requirements.

The Commission initiated investigations after receiving notifications from Apple and Microsoft in July 2023, when these core platform services claimed to meet the specified quantitative thresholds. Along with the notifications, Apple and Microsoft also presented "rebuttal" arguments, stating their belief that despite meeting the quantitative thresholds, these four core platform services should not be considered gateways. After conducting a thorough analysis, considering stakeholder input, the Commission concluded that iMessage, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising do not fulfill the criteria to be classified as gatekeeper services.

It is important to mention that Apple's decision to announce its support for the cross-platform RCS messaging standard on iPhones happened at the same time as the regulatory investigation and the deadline for appealing the European Commission's DMA designation. This indicates that Apple made this decision strategically to avoid the obligation to comply with the regulations tied to the official DMA designation, such as the requirement to enable interoperability of the messaging service with third-party services.

What are gatekeeper services?

The EU's DMA describes gatekeepers as 'large digital platforms providing so-called core platform services, such as for example, online search engines, app stores, messenger services.'