EU proposes two bills governing tech giants, focused on illegal content and anticompetitive behavior, to empower regulators to levy large fines or break them up

Proposed bills would be the bloc's most ambitious internet laws since GDPR — European officials want new powers …

Wall Street Journal 2020-12-16 Sam Schechner

Context & Ripple Effects

This proposal caps a two-year legislative arc: the EU Parliament's 2019 regulations targeting unfair practices by online platforms established the bloc's appetite for governing tech conduct, and two months before this story sources described Brussels drafting a "hit list" of up to 20 large internet companies, likely including Facebook and Apple, for tougher market-power rules. What changed today is scale — the bloc moves from policing individual behaviors to proposing its most ambitious internet laws since GDPR, including powers to levy large fines or break companies up.

First-order effects

The roughly 20 large internet companies on the draft target list, reportedly Facebook and Apple among them, now face a dual compliance track — one bill on illegal content, one on anticompetitive behavior — with structural separation as a credible endgame rather than a theoretical one.
EU regulators move from case-by-case enforcement toward standing ex-ante authority, changing what they can demand of gatekeepers before any violation is proven.

Second-order effects

US tech giants' European lobbying and legal operations become the decisive battleground, since the bills' final shape will be negotiated through the EU Council and Parliament rather than settled by the proposal text.
Smaller platforms and business users that depend on gatekeepers gain potential recourse against self-preferencing, while facing spillover compliance expectations if the rules define obligations by market size.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds, the EU converts GDPR-style rule export into platform governance: structural-remedy powers normalize breaking up firms as a regulatory tool, shifting competition policy from punishing past conduct to constraining future market power.
Enforcement capacity becomes the binding constraint — as later coverage of the passed Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act notes, limited regulator resources could determine whether these powers translate into changed corporate behavior.

The trend: Platform regulation is moving from reactive antitrust cases toward ex-ante statutes that give regulators structural power over designated gatekeepers, with the EU writing the template others will copy or contest.

Discussion

@eu_commission @eu_commission on x
Today we are proposing a set of new rules for all digital services: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. We want to make sure users have access to a wide choice of safe products and services online, and that businesses compete fairly and freely. #DigitalEU https:…
@vestager Margrethe Vestager on x
It is one world. So #DigitalServiceAct & #DigitalMarketsAct will create safe & trustworthy services while protecting freedom of expression. Give new do's & don't to gatekeepers of the digital part of our world - to ensure fair use of data, interoperability & no self-preferences.
@doctorow @doctorow on x
Back in September, we got a glimpse of upcoming EU tech competition rules, courtesy of a leak from the European Commission; they set out an ambitious set of rules on mergers, self-dealing, surveillance, and interoperability. https://pluralistic.net/... 1/ https://twitter.com/...
@doctorow @doctorow on x
One disappointment: the interoperability measures have been weakened since September's leaks, though Article 6 of the Digital Markets Act is still a strict and far-reaching set of pro-competition rules with some look-in for interop. 9/
@eu_commission European Commission on x
Want to know more? Digital Services Act: https://europa.eu/!xy48wN Digital Markets Act: https://europa.eu/!Rd39Mp New online rules for users: https://europa.eu/!bp74bn New online rules for platforms: https://europa.eu/!HV66DK New online rules for businesses: https://europa.eu/!vW…
@apolyakova Dr Alina Polyakova on x
Long time in the making, the EUs answer to tech regulation enshrines a vision of “digital sovereignty.” What we need is greater transatlantic cooperation not digital walled gardens. https://www.bbc.com/...
@doctorow @doctorow on x
It includes VERY steep penalties for companies that don't comply (up to 6% of annual global revenue), and a means to reach beyond EU borders to sanction companies that do business in the EU - both measures are powerful and potentially dangerous, and both need more specifics. 8/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
* A requirement to let businesses on the platform offer services and pricing that directly competes with the platform owner * A requirement to let businesses on the platform do subscription and payment with users on their own terms, without having to use the platform 11/
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
Just to be clear, for all my grousing about the #DSA, EU lawmakers are lightyears ahead of most US lawmakers on this stuff, in that their laws actually address real-world operations. And the #DSA does *much* more for user rights than any previous EU legal instrument I've seen. ht…
@verajourova @verajourova on x
We unveil our blueprint for the regulation of the digital sphere, following our #EUDemocracy Action Plan adopted on 3 December. These initiatives are part of the same vision: stronger protection of fundamental rights, more transparency and fairness online. The moment is ripe. htt…
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
One of the toughest Qs: How can the law encourage platforms to voluntarily moderate, when plaintiffs will want to use those very moderation efforts against them in litigation to say they have too much knowledge/control to be immunized under Art 5 (fka Art 14)? 4/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
* A requirement on platforms to reveal how their ad services work, exposing how much advertisers paid and how much publishers received for ads This is a solid starting point but there will be a lot of work in the years to come in the Parliament and Council. 13/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
* A ban on blocking businesses on the platform from complaining about abuses to regulators * A ban on requiring that businesses on the platform use the platform's single sign-on method * A ban on requiring businesses on the platform from using unrelated platform services 12/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
Here's the Commission's press-release on the Acts: https://ec.europa.eu/... and here's its plain-language(ish) explainer: https://ec.europa.eu/... eof/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
Here's some A6 highlights, rules for the largest tech companies ("gatekeeper companies"): * A ban on combining platform data with data from third parties and on automatically logging users from one service on a platform to other ones 10/
@doctorow @doctorow on x
The good news: the proposal requires due process for content removal - not a system where filters remove your content in an eyeblink and then you spend months or years in autoresponder hell trying to get it back up. 6/
@1br0wn @1br0wn on x
DMA Art. 6(1) b,c,e, f (partially) and k are all about operating systems. j is all about search engines. Nothing specifically about social media. I think Facebook's lobbyists did much better than Apple and Google's with @EU_Commission 😠
@eff @eff on x
We are glad to be part of a civil society meeting today with Commissioner @ThierryBreton, where EFF's International Policy Director @cschmon explains what the EU must do to protect the Internet. https://ec.europa.eu/...
@jrhuddles Jennifer Huddleston on x
Europe gonna Europe And by that I mean Europe is going to place such burdensome amounts of regulation on the technology sector that they wonder why they don't have as much innovation and then place more regulations targeting successful American companies in the European market ht…
@mr_zakka Terence Zakka on x
It's about time. https://twitter.com/...
@laukaya Laura Kayali on x
The European Commission presented today its Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. And it's actually only the beginning — Parliament and Council, the ball is now in your courts.
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
In an interesting coincidence, the EU is rolling out a draft of a Digital Services Act that is partially intended to address disinformation on the same day a member state is caught using disinformation tactics in Africa.
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
This is a dramatic overstatement. The EU is pledging 5 years of meetings and asking big tech to up their lobbying budget. The breathless coverage of useless bureaucrats needs to stop. https://twitter.com/...
@thierrybreton Thierry Breton on x
Regulating the digital space *for* and not against anyone or any company. For our 🇪🇺 citizens. For our democracy. For a fair market for our SMEs, companies of all sizes and entrepreneurs. https://ec.europa.eu/... https://twitter.com/...
@eu_commission @eu_commission on x
Digital Services Act Binding EU-wide obligations will apply to all digital services that connect consumers to goods, services, or content. The new framework will rebalance the rights and responsibilities of users, intermediary platforms, and public authorities. #DigitalEU https:/…
@eu_commission @eu_commission on x
Digital Markets Act This proposal addresses the negative consequences of certain behaviours by platforms acting as digital gatekeepers to the single market. It will prevent unfair conditions to businesses and consumers and ensure the openness of digital services. #DigitalEU https…
@javierespft Javier Espinoza on x
If an investigation shows systematic bad behaviour that further strengthens a company's position, the EU may impose “any behavioural or structural remedies which are proportionate to the infringement committed and necessary to ensure compliance,” a draft of the regulation said.
@javierespft Javier Espinoza on x
Thierry Breton, the EU's commissioner co-leading the overhaul of the rules, said: “There is a feeling from end users of these platforms that they are too big to care.” Margrethe Vestager, also in charge digital policy, said she antitrust probes have failed to tame Big Tech https:…
@javierespft Javier Espinoza on x
The EU will also set out how it aims to assess which companies are “gatekeepers”, which dictate the rules of the marketplace. The criteria will include a company's global turnover over the past three years, its number of users, and its market capitalisation over the past year.
@nat_droz Natalia Drozdiak on x
The EU's #BigTech rules are out & they are some of the strictest that Brussels has yet proposed. Max 10% of revenue fines for #gatekeepers that don't comply, confirming Monday scoop https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@wsj @wsj on x
The EU proposed ambitious new laws to regulate big tech firms over illegal content and anticompetitive behavior, backed by threats of multibillion-dollar fines https://www.wsj.com/...

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