The European Commission has fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaking rules on fair competition and user choice. These are the first penalties issued under the European Union’s landmark Digital Markets Act, which aims to ensure that tech companies adhere to fair business practices. Several other investigations are ongoing under the DMA. The judgment though is likely to have wider ramifications. This is because it comes at a time when the president of the United States of America has been threatening the EU, and other countries across the world, with tariffs for hurting American interests — Apple and Meta are both US companies. The possibility of European tech companies, such as Sweden’s Spotify and Germany’s SAP, having to bear the wrath of Mr Trump who has, in the past, threatened that fines under the DMA will be met with reciprocal tariffs, cannot thus be ruled out. In addition, tech behemoths unwilling to suffer a cut in their profit may pass down costs coming from new regulatory rules on to their customers and smaller businesses across the world. This goes to show that local regulations inevitably impact other regions given the tangled web of digital markets. This, in turn, highlights the need for cooperation and consistency among countries when it comes to digital market regulation laws. When national regulations replicate or complement each other across borders, tech firms are forced to extend their compliance strategies in other markets, minimising compliance costs both for companies and users.

Outside the EU, the United Kingdom, China and Japan have already enacted laws to regulate competition in digital markets. At least eight other countries, including India, have similar regulations in the works. It is crucial to point out that complementarity, and not uniformity, must be the key while formulating such legislation. For instance, in India’s nascent tech market, a law like the DMA might actually imperil the domestic innovation that has been the backbone of initiatives like Digital India and Startup India. The matter is further complicated because the Competition Commission of India has previously allowed Meta and Google to acquire stakes in Reliance Jio. This makes it difficult to control big tech without also hurting the interests of Indian firms. Nuanced regulations for the digital market that are tailored to balance domestic and international interests may ensure that Indian companies have a fighting chance against giants like Apple and Meta.