Top EU Official Dismisses Soft Stance Claims

Citing a “very clear legal basis” for regulators and pointing to multiple ongoing investigations into companies like social media platform X and Meta, a top EU official has denied adopting a softer stance towards Big Tech.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, may eventually decide to scale up or refocus its investigations into Apple, Google, and Meta as a result of the EU reevaluating them, according to a report published earlier this week by the Financial Times.

We have a Digital Service Act that went into effect a little over a year ago, and there are a number of formal proceedings against all of the major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Meta platforms, X, and TikTok, according to Virkkunen.

“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.

With the full implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in 2024, EU institutions have the authority to regulate Big Tech in an effort to curb harmful and unlawful online activity and suppress misinformation.

But even with these additional powers, concerns are mounting about how the EU will really carry out the regulations, especially in the wake of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Dexter Thillien, lead analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “It remains to be seen what the EU will do, as some investigations have gone further than others, but it is also clear that U.S. tech companies will try to use the Trump administration to push back on EU rules.”

Elon Musk of Tesla, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg will attend Trump’s inauguration next week as part of the tech industry’s efforts to become close to him ahead of his second term as president.

While this is going on, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week urged the incoming U.S. president to examine the EU’s approach to Big Tech, claiming that the bloc’s application of competition laws is “almost like a tariff.”

EU official Virkkunen is part of a new group of politicians who joined the EU’s executive arm in December.

Until now, the bloc has been regarded as a leader in tech regulation and has allowed multiple investigations into the conduct of big tech companies.

When asked if she was considering taking a softer approach to the sector, Virkkunen said: “We [have a] very clear legal basis and regulation rules in Europe, and of course, now we are fully enforcing those rules.”

Virkkunen did not say whether she was feeling pressure as a result of Trump’s return to the White House. Instead, she said, “All companies, whether American, European, or Chinese, have to respect the EU’s regulations.”

CNBC