Apple adds an iMessage child safety feature in iOS 18.2 beta 1 in Australia that will let children report nudity material sent to them to Apple
Josh Taylor / The Guardian :
Apple's reversal on RCS wasn't forced by the EU, but likely by China, whose government began codifying in 2023 a requirement for new 5G devices to support RCS
We've had pretty obvious hints since early September that iMessage and Bing would be considered exempt from “gatekeeper” status, and thus exempt from the DMA.
The EU ends its DMA investigation into iMessage and Microsoft Bing, Edge, and Advertising, deciding not to regulate the services due to their lack of dominance
- Services not dominant enough to face Digital Markets Act … A probe concluded that the services don't hold a dominant enough position …
In November 2023, Apple challenged the EU's DMA designation of its five App Stores as a single service, iOS' interoperability, and iMessage's NIICS designation
Apple (AAPL.O) has challenged EU tech rules designating its five App Stores as a single core platform service subject to onerous obligations …
Sources: the EU leans toward excluding iMessage from DMA rules due to not being popular enough among business users, part of an investigation ending in February
- EU tentatively finds it doesn't warrant being covered by DMA — New antitrust law imposes raft of Big Tech dos and don'ts
France's prime minister recommends government staff uninstall foreign apps like Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram by December 8, in favor of French chat app Olvid
Wouldn't ever use Olvid: — ● promoted by French minister who considers signal.org insecure — ● uses biometric data — ● not fully open-source — ● not fully free — ● owned by a for profit (nee...
Sources: Apple plans to file an EU DMA challenge, disputing the EU putting all of the App Store on the DMA list and arguing that the DMA doesn't cover iMessage
Bloomberg :
In a letter, Google and EU telcos called on the European Commission to designate iMessage as a “core” service to make the chat app fully compatible with rivals
Companies want chat app designated a ‘core’ service that would require it to be fully compatible with rivals
Sources: EU regulators send out questionnaires asking customers and competitors whether Apple's iMessage and Microsoft's Bing should be regulated under the DMA
EU antitrust regulators are asking Microsoft's (MSFT.O) users and rivals whether Bing should comply with new tough tech rules …
The EU lists the 22 services falling under the Digital Markets Act, including TikTok and Facebook, and will assess if Microsoft's services and iMessage qualify
- Tech firms set to challenge EU in digital antitrust clampdown — Apple's App Store, Google Search, Amazon marketplace on list