Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), a member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee, wrote to tech companies classified as gatekeepers by the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) requesting information on how their compliance with the new law will impact American consumers, including whether they plan to apply DMA-required protections in the United States. Companies include: Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and TikTok.

“The DMA guards consumer privacy and choice by protecting the personal data of end users, enabling interoperability of critical communications services, and allowing end users to choose which payment, software distribution, web browsing, and other default services to use on their devices,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your qualifying services are used by millions of American end users as well as small- and medium-sized businesses, who remain unprotected by the DMA. As European consumers and small businesses will be afforded greater rights, we are concerned that Americans, and the American technology ecosystem, will be perpetually disadvantaged.”

The Digital Markets Act, passed in 2022, implements regulations designed to increase competition in the digital marketplace and provide consumers with better protections for their personal data. The law, when paired with the Digital Services Act, represents a comprehensive approach to reining in the abuses of dominant technology companies. Despite similar efforts in the United States, large companies identified as gatekeepers are not required to extend the protections afforded to European consumers to Americans.

In the letter sent today, the lawmakers, joined by Representatives Becca Balint (VT-AL), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) requested that the companies respond by October 9, 2023 to questions about their plans to comply with the DMA and what protections, if any, they plan to proactively provide for consumers in the United States.

Digital copies of the letters sent today can be accessed HERE.

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