EU seeks to tame tech giants
The European Union is seeking sweeping powers to tackle big tech companies’ dominance, in a bid to boost competition, increase transparency and protect the public from potential harms.
Measures being considered include forcing tech giants to break up or sell some of their European operations, and excluding them from the Single Market altogether, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
Regulators in Brussels are drawing up a blacklist of activities that technology companies would be required to stamp out – such as preventing users from switching platforms – and are proposing a sliding scale of penalties for non-compliance.
“There is a feeling from end users of these platforms that [the tech giants] are too big to care,” EU commissioner Thierry Breton, who is leading the overhaul of digital rules in the bloc, told the FT. “[Under] certain conditions we may have the power to impose structural separation.” However, he added that such powers, if granted, would only be used in extreme circumstances, such as when tech giants’ actions threaten the interests of consumers or smaller rivals.
Breton said the EU is also considering introducing a rating system that would allow the public to assess companies’ behaviour in areas such as tax compliance and the speed with which they take down illegal content, as well as powers to more easily scrutinise the way technology companies gather information on users.
Need to strike the right balance
Breton – who likened the power of the big tech platforms with that of the banks before the financial crisis – said the new system of oversight will be based on a collective effort between national governments and the EU. He told the FT the draft legislation will be ready by the end of the year, at which point it will go through the European Parliament and the European Council.
One EU official warned that Brussels will need to strike the right balance. “Going overboard can also backfire and you score an own goal,” the official told the FT. “On the other hand, too low an ambition will not address the concerns [about big tech].”
The news follows a public consultation on the EU’s forthcoming Digital Services Act, which will set new rules on platforms’ responsibilities in dealing with illegal content and disinformation online.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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