What is Brussels pondering against Apple, Facebook, Google and more?
According to the Financial Times, the EU is drawing up a list of 20 Big Techs, including Facebook and Apple, which should be subject to more competition rules and handling of personal data
A crackdown on the large technological platforms in Brussels is coming.
The European authorities are working on a "black list" of hi-tech giants to be subjected to new and more stringent rules that aim to contain their strength on the market. The Financial Times reports it citing some sources, according to which the list will include about 20 companies including Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Google and Facebook.
According to media reports, the platforms will have to comply with a stricter regulation towards smaller competitors. They will also be obliged to share data with them, as well as being more transparent about the collection of information.
The European Commission is reportedly wanting to go beyond sanctioning tech companies by finding a way to get those companies to change their behavior quickly. Whether it's opening up access to competition or even forcing them to "break" .
All the details.
STRONGER RULES FOR BIG TECH
Under the plans under study, identified companies will have to comply with stricter regulations than those of smaller hi-tech companies. And among these rules would be the obligation to share data with rivals and to be more transparent about how information is collected.
WHO WILL ENTER THE "LIST"
The list would be based on criteria such as market share, user count, and the dependence others have on their platforms.
According to FT, this initiative by the EU Commission could accelerate the measures to be taken to rebalance the big tech market more quickly by forcing them to share data with competitors.
WHAT THE LARGE PLATFORMS RISK
In extreme cases, the EU will try to address structural problems by splitting up companies or forcing them to sell units if they do not comply with competition rules.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EU
As the FT points out, the move to acquire new powers is part of a growing effort in Brussels to force big tech companies to change their business practices without a full investigation or any finding that they have broken existing laws.
APPLE, GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK IN THE SIGHT
At the moment it is not known who appears on the list. However, this is believed to include US Silicon Valley giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.
As Engadget points out, this probably won't help tensions with the current American leadership, but it would also combine with an investigation by the US House subcommittee accusing those same companies of holding monopoly power and requiring more regulation.
ALSO THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT IS COMING
It is not certain when the list will be ready. The Digital Services Act package should also arrive at the beginning of December, which will update the EU rules for Internet business. This is a wide range of legislative tools to prohibit consider anti-competitive behavior. In addition to forcing big techs to do more to protect their users from illegal content and activities.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/che-cosa-medita-bruxelles-contro-apple-facebook-google-ue-big-tech/ on Mon, 12 Oct 2020 13:10:17 +0000.