EU reassesses tech probes into Apple, Google and Meta, FT reports


FILE PHOTO: Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

(Reuters) -The European Commission is reevaluating its probes into tech giants including Apple, Meta and Alphabet's Google, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The tech giants have urged U.S. President-elect Trump to challenge European Union's regulatory scrutiny against them.

The implications of Trump's presidency were a factor in the review, one source told the newspaper, clarifying that his victory had not triggered it.

The review could lead to Brussels reducing or changing the range of the probes, and will cover all cases launched since March 2024 under the European Union's landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA), the report said, citing sources.

The DMA is one of the most stringent regulations targeting tech giants' market dominance, it dictates what the world's largest tech platforms can and cannot do, and can impose fines up to 10% of a company's annual revenue.

All decisions and potential fines will be paused while the review is completed, but technical work on the cases will continue, the newspaper said.

Regulators are now waiting for political direction to take final decisions on the Google, Apple and Meta cases, the report said.

Apple, Meta, Google and the European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The DMA took effect in 2022 aiming to curb the power of Big Tech and ensuring a level playing field for smaller rivals.

Last week, Meta scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program in one of the biggest overhauls of its approach to managing political content on its services. This comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been signaling a desire to mend fences with the incoming Trump administration.

The EU is mulling an expansion into its investigation into whether Trump's close ally Elon Musk's social media network X breached its content moderation rules, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Tech News

US agency to hold self-driving safety forum with CEOs of Waymo, Zoox, Aurora
Indonesia to restrict social media access for children under 16, minister says
Plan me a holiday: How AI chatbots are changing travel
Bring on defunct: The iPod enthralls young music listeners
High-tech snowploughs and AI help US cities clean up from big storms
When chatbots are used to plan violence, is there a duty to warn?
SoftBank eyes up to $40 billion loan to fund OpenAI investment, Bloomberg News reports
‘Milestone’ first UK remote robotic surgery
Women are falling in love with AI. It’s a problem for Beijing.
Google adds desktop mode to Pixel smartphones

Others Also Read