Top EU official denies softer approach to Big Tech, cites 'very clear legal basis' for regulation
There are growing questions about how the EU is going to enforce tech regulation, particularly as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
A leading EU official has denied taking a softer approach to Big Tech, citing a "very clear legal basis" for regulators and pointing to several ongoing investigations into the likes of social media platform X and Meta.
The FT reported earlier this week that the EU was reassessing investigations into Apple, Google and Meta — a process that could ultimately lead to the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, scaling back or changing the focus of their probes.
"We have our Digital Service Act that came into force a little bit more than one year ago, and there is several formal proceedings going on against, we can say, all the big platforms: Meta platforms, Instagram, Facebook, also on X and with TikTok," Virkkunen said.
"We are continuing the work, so there is not any new decisions made. So we are doing the investigations [to see] if they are complying with our rules," she said.
The Digital Services Act or DSA, which came into full effect in 2024, gives EU institutions the power to regulate Big Tech in a bid to prevent illegal and harmful activities online, and clamp down on disinformation.