Sept 18 (Askume) – European regulators have launched several investigations into big technology companies in recent years.
Here are some of the actions taken:
Digital Marketplace Approach
The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will come into force in 2022, aims to curb the power of big tech companies and ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals.
The European Commission, the EU’s competition regulator, in JulyMeta (META.O) accused of failing to comply with the DMA in its new pay or agree advertising model .
It also targets Apple ( AAPL.O ) and Alphabet’s ( GOOGL.O ) GoogleThree investigations were launched into possible irregularities .
2023In September , the EU designated 22 “gatekeeper” services operated by Alphabet, Amazon (AMZN.O) , Apple, Meta, Microsoft (MSFT.O) and TikTok owner ByteDance and asked them to comply with the DMA’s rules for six months.
Meta and TikTok appealed the “gatekeeper” status in November, resulting in TikTok failing to obtain a suspension of its designation in February. Apple said in April that it would continue to work with the commission to comply with the rules.
Digital Services Act
The EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into effect last year, requires tech companies to do more to address illegal and harmful content on their platforms.
The European Commission said in May that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram were being investigated for possible violations of EU online content rules relating to child protection , which could result in heavy fines.
Antitrust
Google won on September 18It is suing over a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) antitrust fine imposed five years ago for harassing rivals in online search advertising .
A week earlier, on September 10, Google lost the battle with a 2.42 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine . Seven years ago, EU anti-competition regulators fined Google after it used its comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.
The same day, Apple lost a case by the EU competition watchdog demanding that Ireland pay 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes, part of a larger crackdown on sweetheart deals between multinationals and EU countries.
Regulators said in July that Applehas agreed to open its ready-to-use mobile payments system to rivals in a bid to resolve an EU antitrust probe .
In March, Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion eurosThe fine comes after Apple blocked competition from music streaming rivals by imposing restrictions on its App Store.
In June, the commission accused Microsoft (MSFT.O) of illegally bundling its chat and video app Teams with its Office products . Documents seen by Askume in February showed it was also investigating Microsoft’s security software practices .
European Countries
Various European countries have also taken action against big tech companies.
The British antitrust regulator found on September 6 that Google hadabused its dominant position in the digital advertising sector to restrict competition . A month earlier, it had announced that its parent companyInvestigation begins into Alphabet and Amazon’s collaboration with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic .
Other measures include Italy fining Meta for unfair business practices and France fining Google for violating EU intellectual property rules .
Meanwhile, Spanish regulators launched an investigation in July into possible anti-competitive behavior in Apple’s App Store .
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