Booking, ByteDance and X notified that they meet gatekeeper thresholds under Digital Markets Act

The Commission has received notifications by end of Friday 1 March 2024 from Booking, ByteDance and X, about their core platform services potentially meeting the Digital Markets Act (DMA) thresholds as of 1 January 2024, which could make them subject to the new EU rules on gatekeeper platforms.

Companies may become subject to the DMA if they operate a so-called core platform service, such as, among others, search engines, app stores, messenger services, and also meet the following criteria: have 45 million monthly active end users and 10 000 yearly business users, have a significant impact on the market and have a stable market position. Six companies have already been designated as gatekeepers for 22 core platform services and the DMA rules will apply to them as of 7 March 2024.

The Commission now has 45 working days, i.e. until 13 May 2024, to decide whether to designate the companies as gatekeepers. The Commission will also assess any argument put forward by the companies to rebut the presumption that they should be designated as gatekeepers. If designated, gatekeepers will have six months to comply with the requirements in the DMA.