According to Slack, Microsoft is forcing companies to install Teams, blocking app removal, and deliberately disabling certain types of interactions. The company is asking the European regulator to force Microsoft to sell Teams as a standalone product without tying it to an office suite.

Microsoft representatives have not yet commented on the issue. The press service of the European Commission confirmed receipt of the complaint from Slack and added that the regulator ” will assess it in accordance with our standard procedures .” It is worth noting that in the past, such complaints have often led to official investigations.

The situation in the collaboration software market has become particularly tense during the coronavirus pandemic, which forces tens of millions of people to perform their work duties from home. According to reports, some time ago Slack discussed the possibility of filing a complaint about Microsoft’s actions with the US regulator. However, in the end, it was decided to first apply to the European Commission, since the region is particularly actively investigating antitrust cases against American companies. In addition, the European Commission may well consider that distributing a separate solution together with a dominant product in the market is a violation of competition law.

Slack’s appeal to the European Commission is yet another complaint in which large tech companies are accused of abusing their dominant market position. In the United States, control over large technology companies continues to grow. The Department of Justice, the FTC and the US Congress have already launched several investigations that will address various antitrust issues related to the activities of large technology companies.