Opera Files Antitrust Complaint Over Edge in Brazil

Opera has filed a formal antitrust complaint against Microsoft with Brazil’s competition authority, CADE, alleging that Microsoft unfairly promotes its Edge browser by pre-installing it on Windows devices and employing 'dark patterns' to make switching browsers more difficult. Opera asserts that Microsoft offers incentives to PC manufacturers to exclusively install Edge, restricting the prominence and usability of competing browsers such as Opera. This complaint echoes previous antitrust actions against Microsoft in Europe regarding browser bundling. Opera is currently the third most popular browser in Brazil and is seeking regulatory intervention to foster fair competition. Microsoft has not yet responded to the accusations. The outcome could impact how browsers are bundled and selected by users on Windows PCs in Brazil.