DIGITAL COMPETITION LAW AND BIG TECH REGULATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EU DIGITAL MARKETS ACT AND INDIA’S DIGITAL COMPETITION BILL

Abstract

Digital markets have evolved rapidly and are changing the economies of the world, as big tech firms have unprecedented power over commerce, communications, and data flows. A preventive regulatory tool to break the influence of big online platforms, the “Digital Markets Act (DMA)” was introduced in the European Union (EU)[1]. It extends to gatekeepers, such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, and ByteDance (TikTok), in addition to imposing ex-ante liability on them in an attempt to promote contestability and more equitable digital ecosystems[2]. The DMA has already led to significant changes in compliance, including Apple's permission for alternative app stores within the EU and Google's engineering of search results to prevent self-preferencing.