Technology Companies Could Face Bans If They Don’t Follow Regulations, Warns EU Industry Chief

Technology companies’ services could be banned from the European market if they do not follow European Union regulations, Europe’s industry chief Thierry Breton told German weekly Welt am Sonntag, as the European Commission finalises rules on internet companies. Breton will announce new draft rules known as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act together with European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on December 2.

The rules will set out a list of do’s and don’ts for gatekeepers — online companies with market power — forcing them to share data with rivals and regulators and not to promote their services and products unfairly

The new draft rules come as critics of US tech giants, which include companies and industry bodies, question the EU’s rulings against Alphabet unit Google, saying they have not curbed its allegedly anti-competitive behaviour. Some want EU enforcers to go further than just ordering companies to stop such practices. The draft rules would allow the EU to ban companies or part of their services from the 27-country bloc as an extreme option

Until the draft rules are adopted EU antitrust and digital regulators do not currently have the power to impose such bans. “Strict rules must be enforceable”, Breton told Welt am Sonntag. “For this, we need the appropriate arsenal of possible measures: Impose fines, exclude companies or parts of their services from the Single Market, insist that they split up if they want to keep access to the Single Market or a combination of all of these.”

He added that these sanctions would only apply to companies that do not respect the EU’s rules, and that the toughest measures would only be used in exceptional circumstances. In a sign of how much tech firms fear the new regulation, Google unit last month launched a 60-day strategy to get US allies to push back against the EU’s digital chief.


Should the government explain why Chinese apps were banned? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Parler, the Conservative Social Media Platform, Gets Backing from Mercer Family: Report

Related Stories

Internet

Articles You May Like

Hackers Hijack GitHub Accounts in Supply Chain Attack Affecting Top-gg and Others
Reddit shares plunge almost 25% in two days, finish the week below first day close
Poco Phone With Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC Teased; Could be the Poco F6
Samsung Galaxy M55 Live Images, Key Features Leak Again; Tipped to Launch in India Alongside Galaxy M15
Vivo X100s Design, Specifications Leaked via Alleged Google Play Console Listing

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *