Big Tech Firms’ EU Woes Far From Over

In recent weeks, the European Union has slapped hefty fines on some of the world’s largest technology companies while putting in place rules to limit how Big Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft stifle competition with anticompetitive practices.

Related: EU Competition Chief Urges Final Push To Pass Big Tech Rules

Earlier this week, Margrethe Vestager, EU competition and digital policy head, said the European Parliament and European Council had to move quickly to approve legislation regulating Big Tech because “it is best to get 80 percent now than 100 percent never,” per the Financial Times.

“This is another way of saying that perfect should not be the enemy of very, very good,” Vestager added, adding that “another 20 years” won’t go by before the legislation is evaluated.

On antitrust concerns, cloud giant Microsoft could face a legal battle after self-hosted productivity platform Nextcloud, backed by a coalition of about 30 European companies, filed a complaint with the E.U. and German antitrust authorities over Microsoft’s bundling of OneDrive with Windows.

You might also like: Microsoft Faces Accusations of Greed Over BNPL Pay Function

In the complaint, the Berlin-based software maker said that Microsoft is aggressively bundling its OneDrive cloud, Teams, and other services with Windows 10 and 11 which could lure users to the Microsoft 365 cloud without considering alternatives.

Read more: EU’s Digital Market Act Clears Hurdle, Would Set Restrictions on Social Media Platforms

Meanwhile, the European Parliament Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) has approved another piece of legislation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes unprecedented restrictions on big social media platforms and increases surveillance on major platforms that have “unfair terms and conditions” that lead to unfair competition.

See also: 6 Ways the EU’s Digital Markets Act Will Change Big Tech

The new rules require social media companies, or any platform with more than 45 million monthly end users, to answer more for unfair business practices, while curbing data collection of minors. In addition, using data for “commercial purposes” — anything to do with targeted marketing and personalized or “micro-targeted” advertising — will be prohibited.

Related: Wish Pursues Legal Action Over Being Removed From French Search Engines

Also this week, Google began removing controversial U.S. eCommerce giant Wish from its search results in France for listing unsafe goods, following similar moves made by rival search engines such as Microsoft’s Bing and France’s Qwant. Both Google and Apple have removed the Wish app from their French app stores.

The order came from the French government after the country’s consumer watchdog, the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), found several “dangerous” products advertised on the online marketplace, including electronic goods like power adapters and outdoor lights potentially containing harmful chemicals like lead.

Related news: UK’s CMA Demands That Meta Sell Giphy

Across the English Channel, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced this week a decision requiring Meta (formerly Facebook) to sell GIF generator Giphy, citing potential harm to social media users and U.K. advertisers.  

Further reading: Facebook/Giphy Merger Worries UK Competition Watchdog

Per a PYMNTS report, the antitrust watchdog determined that Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy would limit competition between social media platforms and concluded that the transaction has already removed Giphy as a possible contender in the display advertising market.

On the upside, Google reaffirmed its commitment to operating all data centers with carbon-free energy by 2030 by signing up to buy 50MW of wind power for German data centers in a 12-year corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA). The power will be sourced from an offshore wind farm being built by Danish energy giant Ørsted.

And eCommerce powerhouse Amazon has chosen Abu Dhabi as the location of a “technologically advanced” fulfilment center in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to be built by 2024 in accordance with Amazon’s carbon-reduction strategies.

Aimed at driving innovation in the region’s retail and logistics sectors as well as providing support to startups, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the center will be built in partnership with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).