EU Seeks Evidence To Rein in US Big Tech

US tech giants like Facebook and Amazon could face tougher rules as EU regulators seek evidence to curb their position as internet gatekeepers and access to users, information, and services, according to a Reuters EU tender.

The European Commission, which stated it was considering legislation against large online platforms acting as gatekeepers in February, has released a tender for €600,000 (US$649,800) for a study to gather evidence of such gatekeeping capacity.

The study will look at self-preferencing activities and the possibility of pressuring dominant corporations to split their businesses, the tender stated, citing Amazon which is both a retailer and marketplace operator, and Software developer and App Store operator Apple.

“A general, automatic rule may forbid or limit any differentiated treatment by these platforms when they are vertically integrated, to clearly distinguish their positions as marketplace organizers and as marketplace competitors,” read the tender document.

Regulatory measures may require tech giants with vast troves of data that are unwilling to share them with smaller rivals to offer access on reasonable, standardized, and non-discriminatory terms, the document stated.

The study would also concentrate on using data from one market by tech giants to expand into other markets, making it impossible for existing or potential competitors to compete, the paper stated, citing Facebook and its Whatsapp unit as an example.

Another field of interest is knowledge asymmetries identified by social media sites and search engines that collect vast quantities of data from free services, resulting in consumers becoming unwilling to turn to a competing company.

Full Content: Reuters

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