Elon Musk's New Social Media, ByteDance, And Booking.com May Be Affected By Strict EU Rules

The European Union enforces rules for technology GTkeepers. (photo: x @BillMew)

Jakarta - A new social media platform initiated by Elon Musk, as well as TikTok owners, ByteDance, and accommodation booking.com, may be included in the criteria in the eyes of the European Union (EU) as gatekeepers in strict technology rules. This was announced by the European Commission on Friday night March 1.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) stipulates companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of more than 75 billion euros (Rp1,272 trillion) as doorkeepers that provide core platform services for business users.

The companies are required to make their messaging apps operational with competitors and allow users to decide which apps to install independently on their devices, and some other obligations, starting from March 7.

They are not allowed to side with their own services compared to competitors or prevent users from deleting pre-installed software or apps.

"The Commission now has 45 working days to decide whether to designate the companies as doorkeepers. The Commission will also assess any arguments submitted by companies filing to refute the assumption that they should be designated doorkeepers," the EU competition supervisor said in a statement.

ByteDance was named a doorkeeper in July last year but TikTok has challenged the decision in Europe's second-highest court. It is not yet clear what else ByteDance services can be considered as core platform services under DMA.

Booking.com, which last year said it expected to be included in this year's group of doorkeepers due to the addition of more users. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft were designated doorkeepers last year.