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20 years ago, comprehensive rules of the game for digital services and online platforms were last established in the EU. The regulations seem out of this world today, the corporate key figures are anyway: in 2000, the search engine provider Google had a turnover of only $ 19.1 million, in the last financial year it was 162 billion dollars for Google’s parent company, which has become a technology conglomerate. Alphabet. While Google posted a loss of $ 14.7 million 20 years ago, Alphabet’s annual profit was $ 34.3 billion.
The development of Amazon, which was founded in 1997, was similar. Facebook didn’t even exist in 2000, Apple was working its way out of the crisis at that time. Today, they are all among the companies with the highest market values in the world, with market capitalizations in some cases well over a trillion dollars.
Democracy “threatened”
The EU Commission now wants to counteract this market power, which is also associated with the excessive laxity of corporations with fake news campaigns and online hate speech, in two ways: the laws on digital services (Digital Services Act , DSA) and through digital markets (DMA). Corporations face penalties of up to ten percent of the
world sales. Also breaking one
The group should be possible.
Uniform rules across Europe should make it easier for small companies to compete with large companies in the future. Furthermore, internet platforms should take greater responsibility for the content published on their pages. It could take more than a year for the rules to be introduced because feedback from individual EU states and the EU Parliament must be taken into account.
We are at a point “where the power of digital companies, especially the greatest gatekeepers, threatens our freedoms, our opportunities and even our democracy,” Margrethe Vestager, vice president of the EU Commission responsible for digital affairs, said recently. The Danish company has opposed tech giants for years, as the EU’s competition commissioner imposed billions of fines against Google and Amazon, among other things, that look like literally peanuts in light of corporate profits. Other than that, such penalties are only imposed after years of investigation. Potential competitors of yesteryear may already be bankrupt.
At the same time, digital start-ups in the European Union have to deal with a number of legal situations, depending on the issue. That makes the business complex and unattractive for the little ones. Germany, for example, went ahead with the Hate Crime Network Enforcement Act passed in 2017, much to the chagrin of the EU Commission. Large companies with the necessary resources can better handle such a fragmented market.
Therefore, the Commission wants to use several levers. The DMA should take effect before certain markets capsize – the power of an individual company becomes uncontrollable. This would be a big step towards a bigger agency for the EU. At the same time, platforms that have previously decided for themselves what content to remove and why not should be given specifications for content moderation. Companies must share data on how they treat illegal content with authorities and researchers. And sales platforms like Amazon should verify vendors on their pages. Lastly, consumer advocates complain that online customers are not safe from counterfeit products.
Does not burst
According to a draft, the proposed penalty for non-compliance should be up to six percent of the previous year’s turnover. The actual amount should depend on the severity and duration of the rule violation; Billions would be possible. “Very large platforms” with 45 million or more users in the EU should also appoint a compliance officer who will make sure the new rules are applied.
According to Vestager and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, future EU legislation will be linked to the new digital package: “It is the basis for the regulation of platforms of all kinds and we can couple specific laws and requirements to this today and in the coming years. years, “Breton said. and also referred to terrorism and child pornography.
However, no fundamental liability of the platforms for illegal content on their pages is provided. Consequently, it would still be the case that, for example, Facebook only has to remove illegal content when prompted. Nor is the EU Commission considering dividing the tech giants. In the US, Facebook is currently under pressure from the Trump administration and dozens of states.
It is currently not foreseeable if this will happen. This also applies to the chances of success of the Commission’s proposals. Because the authority cannot decide by itself. The next step is negotiations between the EU states and the European Parliament. (what / dpa / da)
