The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not in any way represent the editorial position of Euronews.
When the DSA and DMA were passed in 2022, major technology industry groups hailed the new laws as significant achievements. It’s time for big tech companies to stop pouting and start taking responsibility, writes Jan Penfrat.
advertisementAs the EU’s new flagship technology laws, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, come into full force, Big Tech companies are working hard to defeat them.
Following the Digital Services Act (DSA) on 17 February, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is fully applicable from today.
But as the EU’s new tech laws take effect, tech companies like Apple, Amazon, Meta, and TikTok are already undermining them at every turn.
To overturn these new regulations, tech companies have filed numerous lawsuits against the European Commission, seeking to weaken the rules through malicious compliance that protects their profits at the expense of users.
Bad faith compliance pretends to follow the letter of the law while ignoring or thwarting the intent of the law.
That’s why civil society organizations like EDRi are holding technology companies to account for their actions and helping the European Commission make the most of its supervisory powers.
The DSA regulates how social media platforms handle potentially illegal online content uploaded by users, without unduly restricting people’s freedom of expression.
The DMA includes strong obligations and prohibitions to prevent these tech companies from dominating key markets such as smartphones, chat apps, and app stores.
Tech companies aren’t happy – they’re putting profits before people
As the European Commission prepares to force Big Tech companies to comply with new rules, Amazon, Meta, TikTok and Apple are emptying their pockets to thwart the task.
In July, Amazon became one of the first companies to sue the European Commission over the DSA. The $5 trillion company, which has hundreds of millions of monthly users in Europe, argued in court that the DSA’s key obligations were conveniently intended for companies with online advertising as their primary business model. It argues that it is impossible for the DSA to be subject to that primary obligation. , not for Amazon.
Of course, the DSA’s obligations on very large online platforms such as Amazon also explicitly apply to e-commerce sites, regardless of how they make money.
Shortly thereafter, Meta and TikTok announced that they would be taking the European Commission to court over the annual supervisory fees they must pay under the DSA.
This mandate is one of the many victories achieved by digital rights organizations like EDRi and other civil society organizations during the drafting of the law. It is a question of fairness that Big Tech should bear the costs that society has to invest in mitigating the threat posed by these companies (estimated at 45 million euros per year).
Based on the European Commission’s calculations, Meta (annual profits of $47 billion) will have to pay €11 million, while TikTok owner ByteDance (annual profits of $2 billion) is expected to pay €3.9 million. It is.
Let’s do the math. Both totals are well below the 0.05% annual return cap. These amounts are just pocket money for technology companies, but they are fair and essential financial compensation that enables public authorities to carry out their enforcement activities.
Apple isn’t without fault either.
Apple, on the other hand, is trying to crush new regulations not through the courts but through malicious compliance. One of DMA’s main goals is to break through Apple’s tightly controlled operating system and app store and give users the freedom to decide which apps to install on their iPhones and from where. That’s it.
But instead of complying with this new requirement, Apple announced a sneaky plan to allow competitors to offer alternative app stores and web browsers on iPhones and iPads, while keeping the company’s gatekeepers to people’s devices. Authority should never be diminished.
Instead of essentially giving users more software freedom, Apple allegedly continues to police every app people install on their phones and collect levies from developers to keep users safe. .
advertisementDevelopers called Apple a “mafia” and described the company’s malicious attempts at DMA compliance as “abuse,” “extortion,” and “ridiculously punitive.” The European Commission should strongly oppose this attempt to circumvent the DMA’s objective of reducing gatekeeper powers.
Indeed, legal recourse is open to everyone. However, some of these lawsuits brought by tech companies are aimed at slowing down the European Commission’s enforcement efforts, curbing the potential of the DSA and DMA to reduce Big Tech’s market power, and affirming the two laws in the world. There seems to be no benefit other than destroying the public image. public eye.
Will the European Commission hold tech companies accountable?
Despite legal threats from industry, the European Commission’s enforcement team has made a fairly promising start.
Last year, the DMA’s responsibility team held a series of well-organized public workshops with experts and regulated companies to discuss how to best apply some of the law’s more complex rules.
Unlike similar workshops in the past, this workshop was not dominated by industry lobbyists and embraced many important civil society voices, including input from the free software and digital rights communities.
advertisementMore importantly, once the DSA came into force, the European Commission acted quickly, opening formal investigations against X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok for possible non-compliance with their respective obligations under the DSA. That’s it.
The Commission will examine, inter alia, whether the two platforms have not complied with their obligations to provide effective content moderation, improve the transparency of their surveillance advertising systems, and stop the use of addictive designs and dark patterns. is investigating.
Civil society’s fight for accountability and justice
Just last week, EDRi, along with other professional NGOs, revealed that Microsoft’s networking platform LinkedIn may be in breach of the DSA’s new ban on profiling people using sensitive personal data for ad targeting. We have submitted evidence to the European Commission.
The very fact that the DSA includes such a prohibition is an important milestone in recognizing the limits of consent in the surveillance advertising industry.
When the DSA and DMA were passed in 2022, major technology industry groups hailed the new laws as significant achievements. It’s time for Big Tech companies to stop pouting and start taking responsibility for themselves.
advertisementThe European Commission must stand firm against their attempts to delay, suppress and destroy Europe’s key digital laws, and the digital rights community must hold them to account. We are ready to help.
Jan Penfrat is a Senior Policy Advisor at the European Digital Rights Network (EDRi).
At Euronews we believe every opinion matters. Contact us at [email protected] and join the conversation by submitting your pitch or contribution.