EU Regulators Will Focus On Big Tech In Drafting New Rules

European Union (EU) regulators plan to target new rules squarely against Big Tech companies like Facebook and Apple, a Financial Times report says.

The new focus, according to European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, will be particularly on disinformation campaigns, and especially those relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jourova, according to FT, said the EU has “to give them more responsibility,” and this is the core of the issue right now for the European Democracy Action Plan.

“I have to count with some resistance. Whatever we come up with will create more requirements which will mean more money, more people, more responsibility,” she said, according to FT.

Jourova said the disinformation in question was “manipulative” and “has the potential to create an easy-to-manipulate crowd,” FT writes. She said it wasn’t about wasting time on “stupid innocent rumors” but more about tackling schemes that aim to ensnare individuals in radical ideologies and distract people overall.

That comes after Facebook has argued for a “one-size-fits-all” approach that would regulate the entire industry. But EU regulators say that kind of approach could be particularly disadvantageous to smaller firms.

As a new Digital Services Act (DSA) is being drawn up, Google argued for less culpability for tech platforms in terms of what content is posted there, saying it should clarify that services aren’t liable without knowledge.

Earlier this year, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote that the demonization of big tech is faulty because it creates adversity with a series of huge companies that, unlike the cable companies of yesteryear, are primarily liked and trusted by consumers. The amount of important services like financial and banking needs met by companies like Amazon, Google and the likes signal that many consumers don’t see them as tyrannical or evil, Webster wrote.

And in August, Webster wrote writes that the fear of Big Tech monopolies  is overblown, as most companies are all fighting for the same fields including ridesharing, eCommerce, groceries and more.