Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech. The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google’s app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, how Google search results might unfairly preference its own services and how Apple may make it harder for users to choose alternatives to its Safari browser.
Meta, Spotify and other companies are weighing new options for customers as Apple makes changes to comply with a new European law.
The European Union is sending letters to top social media platforms, urging clearer policies and content moderation around videos and images related to the Hamas attacks on Israel last weekend. Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal market, posted a letter Tuesday to Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the EU has “indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.” This has included “repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games,” the letter reads.
The agreement ends legal uncertainty for Meta, Google and scores of companies — at least for now.
Exclusives
European Union regulators filed new antitrust charges against Google, which could lead to fines and orders for the company to change its business practices.
The penalty fine of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s 746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations. The Irish watchdog is Meta’s lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giant’s European headquarters is based in Dublin.
The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant.
The Digital Services Act would force Meta, Google and others to combat misinformation and restrict certain online ads. How European officials will wield it remains to be seen.
The European Union was expected to finalize the Digital Markets Act, the most sweeping legislation to regulate tech since a European privacy law was passed in 2018.
The approval should be good for four years, but the EU Commission warned it will revoke that if it discerns problems threatening EU citizens’ data privacy rights
While Google can easily afford the record fine, the ruling could hurt the company’s business model, which relies on giving away its operating system in return for opportunities to sell ads and other products.
Facebook said today it was publishing its privacy principles for the first time and rolling out educational videos to help users control who has access to their information, as it prepares for the start of a tough new EU data protection law.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — There’s a groundswell of support in the European Union to make sure that digital U.S. giants pay more taxes on their lucrative business in Europe, French […]
The European Union’s Court of Justice sides with ITV Broadcasting and others in ruling against TVCatchup, a service that allows consumers to watch over-the-air TV on their computers and digital devices.
European broadcasters are emerging from a period of uncertainty to discover they will have to cede more primary spectrum to mobile broadband operators, but are being offered some concessions over reallocation.
