Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL; DR
- The EU has just adopted the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
- Both laws focus on ruling in Big Tech’s power and at the same time giving more power to the consumer.
- Among other changes, the Services Act could bring interoperability to messaging applications.
When it comes to keeping Big Tech in check, the European Union does most of the heavy lifting. Recently, the EU forced Apple’s hand to adopt USB-C on iPhones, and the protection we have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is all due to the EU.
Today, the EU has rejected two more measures: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. Both laws are specifically aimed at large technology companies, such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. Although the actions differ slightly, they both focus on stripping Big Tech of power and giving it back to the general consumer.
Here’s the crux of the matter.
Digital Markets Act
This law is all about preventing big firms from abusing just how big they are. As an example, Google has been caught giving its own shopping platform preference in Google Search over other third party services. The Digital Markets Act will make it punishable by heavy fines.
The DMA also recommends that large firms work better with smaller firms. Theoretically, depending on how lawyers interpret these bills, it could mean interoperability between chat services. For example, it could force Apple to make iMessage work with Facebook Messenger. However, the language here is somewhat vague, so it is unclear how seriously companies will have to take it.
Finally, the DMA also allows third-party platforms to bypass larger platforms when communicating with users. As an example of how this can be beneficial, imagine using an Android application downloaded from the Google Play Store. If the developer of that application wants to sell something to you, the developer can reach out to you directly, rather than going through Google.
Digital Services Act
The Digital Services Act is mostly focused on large firms with social networks or social aspects of their products. In one area, the DSA urges companies to be more aggressive with content moderation, including stopping the flow of misinformation.
Elsewhere, the DSA requires companies to prevent the sale of illegal or unsafe products on their respective platforms.
The Digital Services Act also gives people more power. This prevents companies from using sensitive personal information for advertising tracking purposes. It also prevents the ad detection of children. You will also find out why an algorithm provided you with a certain ad and can reasonably dispute if an algorithm deletes a piece of content you have created.
When and how will it be enforced?
The Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act will be enforced by the EU in 2024. Should regulators realize that a firm does not comply with these laws after that time, it could impose large fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue from the previous year. Google’s revenue in 2021 was $ 257 billion, so a fine for these acts would be as high as $ 25 billion. This is something that Google, Apple and other Big Tech players cannot ignore.