The European Union is considering legislation to ensure Big Tech companies do more to control illegal content flooding their platforms as they continue to clamp down on US companies monopolising the EU market.
Radikale Venstre
This is according to a statement by European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who also suggested for enforcers to tackle market failures in digital markets and prevent new ones from emerging.
This comes as the EU continues to escalate sanctions against US companies as tensions between the two continue to sour, possibly owing to the US-backed intervention against the Nord Stream 2 project.
The EU's primary goal is to curb the market power of companies such as Facebook and Google in Europe, with the ultimate goal of breaking them up into smaller entities.
When these companies operate in Europe, they will be under far stricter regulations than when they are back at home, such as having to share data with competitors. Smaller companies are not privy to these same regulations.
The EU hope this will allow for European competition to spring up, and not being solely reliant on the platforms of the American titans.
Under the new Digital Services Act, online retailers will be required to do background checks on sellers before they are permitted to use their platforms. The EU has introduced this measure as a way of curbing the stocking of illegal, illicit or dangerous content.
Tech companies will be required to draft out reports on their actions and inform users, who will be privy to targetted marketing campaigns, why they have been targetted by certain adverts.
Vestager mentioned the new branch of the Digital Services Act contains two pillars to curb illegal content.
She said: “The first of those pillars will be a clear list of dos and don’ts for big digital gatekeepers, based on our experience with the sorts of behaviour that can stop markets working well.”
"The second pillar is to set up a harmonised market investigation framework across the 27 member states.
“That would give us a harmonised set of rules that would allow us to investigate certain structural problems in digital markets and, if necessary, we could take action to make these markets contestable and competitive."
Unfair self-preferencing will be illegal under the new act, which means users will able to more easily shift platforms to browse for additional goods and services.
The EU isn't the only body on the continent to take measures against Big Tech companies.
It was recently revealed that online retailer Amazon will be levying upfront costs to the smaller retailers to avoid paying the new digital services tax introduced by the UK government.
In response, the online retailer introduced a 2% on third-parties using their platforms. This gives them a significant price advantage over competitors.
It also means the businesses who rely on companies such as Amazon and Google will be paying higher upfront costs for the privilege of using their platforms.
Vestager is due to announce her draft rules on December 2. She will need approval from both the EU parliament and its member states before it can be signed into executive legislation.
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