Alphabet hit with EU antitrust complaint by six digital rights groups

Alphabet was targeted with an EU antitrust complaint from six human and digital rights groups on Thursday which urged EU regulators to investigate whether the tech giant complies with legislation requiring it to make it easier for users to uninstall software apps.

The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which took effect two years ago, sets out a list of dos and don'ts for seven Big Tech companies including Alphabet unit Google, in an attempt to curb their power and give rivals more room and users more choice.

British human rights organisation Article 19, European Digital Rights (EDR), Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), Gesellschaft fur Freiheitsrechte (GFF), Homo Digitalis, and Vrijschrift said Alphabet allegedly has not complied with the DMA.


They said the alleged violation concerned a DMA requirement that gatekeepers or companies which provide a core platform service to business users, shall technically enable users to easily uninstall software applications on the gatekeeper's operating system.

"Alphabet has designed its Core Platform Service Android in a way to hide from end users the possibility to disable its own pre-installed gatekeeper apps," they said in their complaint.

"What is more, Alphabet goes to great length to scare away end users who have found that possibility against all odds of actually disabling Google's pre-installed apps," they said.

The group called on the European Commission to investigate the issue.

Alphabet refuted the allegations.

"It is easy to uninstall apps on Android devices, so this complaint does not represent a genuine user concern. Other regulators, including the CMA, have previously dismissed this complaint," a Google spokesperson said.

The CMA is the British competition watchdog.

The Commission confirmed receipt of the complaint, saying it is currently assessing it under its standard procedures.