Most people searching for DMA compliance are asking the wrong question. The Digital Markets Act doesn't regulate "digital companies" in general. It regulates seven of them. If you run or buy video conferencing and you aren't Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft or Booking, the DMA puts no direct obligations on you.
It still matters, though. One part of it is going to change how video calls work between messaging apps, and that part has a date on it.
Short answer
What the DMA regulations cover
The Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) is EU competition law written in advance. Instead of waiting years for an antitrust case, it lists things the largest platforms must and must not do.
Who counts as a gatekeeper
A company is presumed to be a gatekeeper when it provides a "core platform service" (search, app stores, operating systems, social networks, messaging, browsers, ads, and a few others) and hits all of these:
- EU turnover of at least €7.5 billion in each of the last three years, or a market value of at least €75 billion.
- At least 45 million monthly end users and 10,000 yearly business users in the EU.
- Those user numbers held for three years running, with the service offered in at least three EU countries.
That's why the list is so short. A video conferencing vendor, even a big one, doesn't come close unless it's part of one of those groups.
The DMA timeline
An earlier version of this article had some of these dates wrong. Here's the corrected sequence:
- December 2020: the European Commission proposes the DMA.
- July 2022: Parliament and Council adopt it.
- October 12, 2022: published in the Official Journal.
- November 1, 2022: enters into force.
- May 2, 2023: starts to apply; companies over the thresholds have two months to notify the Commission.
- September 6, 2023: the first six gatekeepers are designated.
- March 7, 2024: their obligations become binding.
- May 2024: Booking is designated as the seventh.
The DMA compliance report (and a sensible report strategy)
Gatekeepers have to show their work. Within six months of designation, and every year after, each one sends the Commission a compliance report covering every obligation and publishes a non-confidential summary. They also submit an independently audited description of how they profile consumers.
The Commission publishes these on its DMA website, and they're more useful than they sound. If you rely on a gatekeeper's platform (for example, your meeting app is distributed through an app store), the report tells you what that gatekeeper has committed to do for business users like you. That's the report strategy worth having if you're not a gatekeeper: read theirs.
Do you need a DMA compliance platform?
Search for "DMA compliance platform" or "digital markets compliance software" and you'll find tools aimed at gatekeepers and the law firms that advise them. If you aren't one of the seven, you don't need one.
What you probably do need, if you run video calls with European users:
- GDPR, which governs every recording, transcript and attendance log. Our guide to GDPR-compliant WebRTC video covers the practical side.
- The EU AI Act, if your calls use AI transcription, summaries or analysis. See EU AI law and WebRTC.
- A security baseline your customers will recognise, such as ISO 27001.
DMA compliance and video conferencing: the interoperability deadline
This is the bit that actually touches video. Meta's WhatsApp and Messenger are designated as messaging services, and Article 7 makes Meta open them to third-party apps in three phases. One-to-one text and media came first in 2024, then group chats in 2025. Audio and video calls are due by September 7, 2027. The first third-party apps that talk to WhatsApp launched in November 2025.
The obligation sits on Meta, not on anyone else. Once it lands, another app should be able to request access and place calls to WhatsApp users without either side switching apps. Meeting tools like Zoom, Teams meetings and Google Meet are not designated, so none of this forces them to talk to each other. (Microsoft's 2025 commitment to sell Office without Teams came out of a separate EU antitrust case, not the DMA.)
Where Meetrix fits
Meetrix isn't a gatekeeper and has no DMA obligations. What we do is run open source video conferencing, mainly Jitsi Meet, inside your own AWS or GCP account. That gets you the things the DMA is trying to force the big platforms into: open standards (WebRTC, SIP), no lock-in to one vendor's app, and call data you can export because it never left your infrastructure.
If keeping meeting data in Europe is the real goal behind the search, sovereign video conferencing is the closer fit. And for a federal-level comparison in the US, see where the American Privacy Rights Act ended up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who needs DMA compliance?
Only companies the European Commission has designated as gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft since September 2023, with Booking added in May 2024. Every other company, including almost every video conferencing vendor, has no direct DMA obligations.
What is a DMA compliance report?
Each gatekeeper must send the Commission a report describing how it meets every obligation, within six months of designation and then every year, and publish a non-confidential summary. Separately, it must submit an independently audited description of its consumer profiling techniques.
Do I need a DMA compliance platform or software?
Probably not. DMA compliance software is built for the handful of gatekeepers and the law firms advising them. If you are not designated, spend the effort on GDPR, the Digital Services Act and your own data portability instead.
Does the DMA affect video calls?
Yes, through messaging interoperability. Meta must open WhatsApp and Messenger to third-party apps in phases, with audio and video calls due by September 2027. Zoom, Teams meetings and Google Meet are not designated core platform services.
What are the fines for breaking the DMA?
Up to 10% of a gatekeeper's total worldwide annual turnover, rising to 20% for repeated infringements. Systematic non-compliance can also lead to remedies such as a ban on acquisitions.