EU Commission increases pressure on tech giants - new law in force
Tech giants have huge numbers of users in the EU and a corresponding amount of influence. The EU Commission is keeping a close eye on new rules and is targeting US companies.
The EU Commission is opening proceedings against Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet and Facebook's parent company Meta. The aim is to investigate whether the companies have violated EU rules, as the authority announced on Monday.
For example, the online giants would have to obtain users' consent if they wanted to combine their personal data across various central platform services. The Commission is concerned that Meta is not complying with this sufficiently.
Severe penalties possible
The investigations fall under the Digital Markets Act. The Digital Markets Act aims to combat the dominance of the so-called digital gatekeepers - the largest online platforms. These must, for example, enable app developers to direct consumers to offers outside of their own app stores - free of charge. However, the Brussels authority has doubts as to whether Alphabet and Apple are fully complying with this. They are accused of restricting developers' options by imposing various fees.
The Commission also wants to check whether users of Apple devices have the option of easily changing their default settings and can therefore easily use a different browser or search engine, for example. Users must also be able to easily delete unwanted apps.
Companies that do not comply with the law can be fined up to 10 percent of their total global turnover. Repeat offenders can be fined 20 percent. As a final option, the company could also be broken up.
New EU law in force
Companies have had to comply with the DMA since the beginning of March. It is intended to ensure more competition for digital services and better opportunities for new rivals. The basic assumption is that some large platform operators have become so powerful that they can cement their market position. The DMA is intended to break this up with rules for gatekeepers. The Commission has so far identified 22 gatekeeper services from six companies. These include the US heavyweights Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta. The companies have already announced or implemented a number of changes to their business practices. However, this is not enough for the Commission.
Obligation to retain documents
Apple, Alphabet and Meta will now be obliged to retain certain documents. "This will allow us to access the relevant evidence in our ongoing and future investigations," said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Apple announced that it is confident that it is in compliance with the DMA. "Apple teams across the company have developed many new features and tools for developers to comply with the regulation. We have also implemented safeguards to mitigate new risks to the privacy, quality and security of our users in the EU," it said in a statement. The company wants to continue to work constructively with the Commission.
The European consumer protection organization Beuc sees the proceedings as a sign that the Commission is serious about enforcing the law on digital markets. It is right that the big tech companies should expect serious enforcement measures.
The Commission intends to conclude the proceedings opened on Monday within a year. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the companies concerned will have to take measures to dispel the authority's concerns.
Digital space should become safer
The DMA is part of the EU's drive to make the digital space safer for people. The focus is often on large US corporations. At the same time, the Commission is also trying to curb hate speech and agitation with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and has already targeted X (formerly Twitter). Among other things, the platform was accused of not taking sufficient action against illegal content - for example on the Gaza war.
The authority also initiated proceedings against the Chinese company TikTok. The focus here is on the protection of minors and advertising transparency. The possible misconduct also concerns the fact that the platform may not be doing enough to ensure that the app does not promote addictive behavior. (SDA/swi)
