Governments can curb Big Tech gatekeeper power without splitting companies apart by regulating specific conduct, scrutinizing acquisitions and making it easier for users and businesses to switch or connect to competing services. The key is to target defined competitive risks—not to assume that every large platform needs the same rules, or that conduct regulation is always better than a breakup.
What does regulating Big Tech without a breakup mean?
A breakup changes a company’s structure or ownership—for example, by separating a platform from a business that uses it. Conduct regulation leaves the company intact but places limits or duties on how it operates. Those duties might address how a platform treats competing services, whether users can move their data, or whether business customers can reach users through alternative routes.
These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Regulators can use conduct rules and merger enforcement while retaining structural remedies for cases where other measures are inadequate. The policy question is which intervention can address the identified harm effectively and proportionately.
Which regulatory tools can address gatekeeper power?
Set targeted rules for designated platforms
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a concrete example of an ex-ante regime: it sets obligations for platforms designated as gatekeepers, rather than relying only on a separate case-by-case competition investigation for every concern. The European Commission’s 2026 review materials describe rules covering areas such as data access and portability, interoperability, alternative distribution channels, advertising transparency, self-preferencing, and bundling or tying.
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The DMA is intended to make digital markets fairer and more contestable. It complements competition law; it is not a replacement for all competition enforcement, nor does it apply as a universal rule to every technology company everywhere. The Commission’s 7 March 2024 announcement said designated gatekeepers had to comply with their DMA obligations from that date.
Enforce competition and merger law
Competition authorities can investigate conduct under existing law and review acquisitions before they close, subject to the laws and procedures in their jurisdiction. Merger analysis matters in platform markets because a deal may affect competition even when the two companies do not look like conventional direct rivals.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2023 Merger Guidelines, Guideline 9, describe analysis of multi-sided platforms. Agencies may consider competition between platforms, competition on a platform, and competition to displace a platform. The guidance also highlights the potential significance of acquiring a nascent competitor or a business that competes on a different side of a platform. These are merger-analysis guidelines—not a general U.S. code of conduct for platforms.
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Enable switching and interoperability
Data portability lets people transfer data between services; interoperability lets different services or systems work together in specified ways. Depending on the design, either can lower the friction of leaving a platform or help a rival service compete without first rebuilding every feature and connection from scratch.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe Federal Trade Commission’s December 2023 commentary, Interoperability, Privacy, & Security, describes interoperability as a way to support consumer choice and switching. It also recognizes genuine privacy and security concerns. The FTC says it will scrutinize claims that those concerns require blocking interoperability, including whether a restriction is well-founded and tailored to reduce competitive harm. In practice, a rule needs a clear technical scope, workable security controls, and privacy protections; “open everything” is not a complete design.
What makes these rules workable rather than burdensome?
Define the conduct and the duty precisely
A rule against self-preferencing, for example, needs an enforceable account of what conduct it covers, which service or transaction is in scope, and how compliance will be assessed. A broad instruction to treat rivals fairly may be difficult to apply consistently. Monitoring and clear procedures matter because a platform may control the technical systems through which regulators expect compliance.
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Match obligations to demonstrated risks
Rules should be directed at firms, services, and conduct within the law’s scope. A duty justified by a particular bottleneck should not automatically extend to unrelated services or companies. That focus can reduce unnecessary constraints while preserving the ability to intervene where a platform’s control over access, distribution, or data impedes competition.
Build in review and enforcement
Markets and technology change, so regulators need to assess whether obligations remain relevant, workable, and effective. The Commission’s first DMA review, published in 2026, assessed the law’s aims, impacts, scope, obligations, and enforcement. A review process should be able to refine rules as evidence accumulates, rather than treating their initial design as permanently settled.
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How do competition rules differ from online-safety rules?
Competition regulation and online-safety regulation address different problems, even where the same platform is subject to both. The DMA concerns fair and contestable digital markets. The EU Digital Services Act (DSA), by contrast, establishes duties for online services, including risk-related requirements for the largest platforms. The Commission’s DSA overview describes obligations that vary with service size and type, with specific duties for the largest online platforms.
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Safety, illegal content, systemic risks, privacy, and competition can interact, but each rule should have a clear objective and legal basis. Treating a safety obligation as a competition remedy—or using competition rules as a substitute for safety policy—can obscure what regulators are trying to achieve and how success should be judged.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the EU’s early experience show—and not show?
In its 28 April 2026 announcement, the European Commission said its first review found that the DMA remained fit for purpose and reported changes including data transfer, alternatives for defaults, app stores, and messaging interoperability. These are the Commission’s findings about the early implementation of EU law. They are not a controlled comparison with structural separation, and they do not establish that the same rules will work in every market or jurisdiction.
The practical takeaway is narrower: conduct obligations can be implemented without first breaking up the covered companies, and regulators can report changes in how services operate. Whether a given obligation produces durable, broad-based competition—and whether a structural remedy would work better in a particular case—depends on the market, enforcement, and evidence.
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How should policymakers choose between conduct rules and structural remedies?
A useful decision starts with the suspected harm, not with a preferred remedy. Regulators can ask:
- What is the bottleneck? Identify the specific platform function, access condition, acquisition, or practice at issue.
- What outcome is needed? Consider whether the goal is more switching, entry, business-user access, or competition across platform sides.
- Can a conduct duty be enforced? Assess whether the rule can be defined, monitored, and applied without relying on vague standards.
- What safeguards are required? For portability or interoperability, specify privacy and security protections and ensure claimed restrictions are appropriately tailored.
- Is the intervention proportionate and reviewable? Limit its scope to the risks and services covered by the law, and revisit it as markets change.
- Would structural separation address the problem more effectively? Conduct regulation should remain a policy option, not an article of faith; the sources cited here do not establish a universal ranking of remedies.
Regulating without breaking up a company is therefore a matter of choosing and enforcing focused rules—not simply imposing more rules. The DMA illustrates one way to impose obligations on designated gatekeepers, while U.S. merger guidance illustrates a distinct way to assess acquisitions in multi-sided markets. Neither example proves that one regulatory model fits every platform.
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