Using Sanctions in Enforcing Digital Markets Act in the EU

For a long time, governments have been focusing on regulating internet-based activities in the context of regulating e-commerce. Since a lot of developments have been taking place in the digital world, the law has been relatively slow in coping with all these changes. This enabled certain businesses who pioneered these markets to massively grow and set rules to be followed by others who want to enter this market. Of course, these rules do not necessarily reflect a balanced view of fair market practices. On the contrary, several cases were brought before courts to address anti-competitive market practices adopted by major players in the market. This era came to an end since the EU took a bold move to regulate competition in the digital markets as well as regulating the content circulated on the internet from a broader perspective that goes beyond e-commerce. The EU has introduced the Digital Markets Act in 2021 which entered into force on November 1st, 2022. This Act, which has to be distinguished from other acts such as the “Digital Services Act,” has introduced certain obligations to be fulfilled by the so-called “Gatekeepers.” Violating these obligations will trigger a process conducted by the European Commission following a set of procedures defined by the Act. This process could end up by imposing hefty sanctions on the violators.