EU puts Google, Apple, Amazon under new digital rule

London. The European Union (EU) on Wednesday announced plans to bring technology-based companies such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and TikTok under new digital rules. The Digital Markets Act has been brought in with the intention of controlling the trading ability of online companies in the European Union. Under this, these six global companies have been classified as online gatekeepers due to which maximum monitoring will be done on them.

Thierry Breton, commissioner of the European Commission and in charge of digital policy, the EU’s executive arm, said the time has come to change the rules of the game. We have to make sure that any online platform, no matter how big, is treated fairly. This EU law lists activities for technology companies that prevent them from capturing new digital markets. For this, methods like imposing a heavy fine on them or warning them to dissolve the company can also be adopted.

Google’s parent company Alphabet, Facebook’s operating company Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Tiktok’s parent company ByteDance will have to comply with the EU’s new digital rules. However, these companies have been given six months to comply. The European Commission said digital platforms can be listed as gatekeepers if they serve as a gateway between businesses and consumers.

These services include Google’s Chrome browser, Microsoft’s Windows operating system, Meta’s WhatsApp, TikTok and Amazon’s marketplace and Apple’s App Store. Message-based services will need to work with each other. In addition, digital platforms will not be able to show their products or services above their competitors in online search results. A company violating these provisions can be fined up to 10 percent of its annual global revenue. In case of repeated violations, this penalty can be increased up to 20 percent or the company can also be dissolved.

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