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LONDON (AP) – The European Union’s pioneering ambitious plan on the internet rules update lock to restrain a committee of technology companies of the contents of the goals require measures to better control and lawmakers Big Tech Following the preparation of the voting arrangements gained momentum Tuesday.
Last year, the 27-nation bloc drafted a sweeping regulation for digital companies that aims to ensure that tech giants like Google and Facebook, now renamed Meta, treat their competitors fairly and protect users on their platforms.
The rules, which have been the subject of fierce lobbying by the tech industry, appear to be awaiting approval from lawmakers, though they face tough negotiations with EU institutions next year. Regulations to block harmful online content in the UK and the like demonstrate Europe’s role as a pacemaker in regulating the tech industry, with a global movement accelerating after whistleblower Frances Haugen’s claims that Facebook puts profits before safety.
The Digital Services Act, a set of EU rules, aims to make tech companies more responsible for the content on their platforms. The lead committee working on the rules said on Tuesday it had approved the changes before sending the draft to the full EU Parliament for a vote expected in January.
“We are now democratically taking back our online environment,” said EU Member of Parliament Christel Schaldemose. “DSA is bringing EU technology regulation into the 21st century, and it’s time.”
The committee approved restrictions on targeting ads to children and requiring porn sites to register users’ identities, as well as banning platforms that use “dark patterns” (deceptive or poking techniques to influence users to do things they didn’t intend). material is loading.
EU officials want to use another set of rules known as the Digital Markets Act to restrict the biggest online companies, called “digital gatekeepers”, by curating lists of dos and don’ts.
Through these rules, the block is trying to prevent tech giants from dominating digital markets, a change from previous practice of issuing large fines for past antitrust violations.
Google declined to comment on EU rules. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.
EU lawmakers are set to vote Tuesday and Wednesday on a draft of the Digital Markets Act, which includes authorizing the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, to stop “killer buys” when tech companies buy innovative startups to thwart future competition.
There are also tighter restrictions on targeted online ads and stronger requirements for different messaging services or social media platforms to work with each other – an effort to prevent dominance by a few companies as they have already established large user networks.
The Digital Markets Act’s criteria for defining a gatekeeper are 45 million users and 10,000 business users with annual revenues in Europe of at least 8 billion euros ($9 billion), a market capitalization of 80 billion euros, services in at least three EU countries there is.
Violations are punishable by large fines: up to 6% of a company’s annual revenue under the Digital Services Act and up to 20% under the Digital Markets Act, which can be up to billions of dollars for wealthy Silicon Valley companies.
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