A top 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 such social media platforms X AND Meta.
Theft reported earlier this week, into which the EU was reassessing investigations Apple, Google and Meta – a process that could ultimately lead to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, limiting or changing the direction of its research.
However, in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, rejected this proposal.
“We have the Digital Services Act, which came into force just over a year ago, and there are several formal proceedings pending against, you could say, all the big platforms: the Meta platforms, Instagram, Facebook, also on X and with TikTok,” Virkkunen said.
“We are continuing to work, so no new decisions have been made. That's why we are investigating (to check) whether they are following our rules,” she said.
The Digital Services Act or DSA, which came fully into effect in 2024, gives EU institutions the power to regulate Big Tech to prevent illegal and harmful activity online and combat disinformation.
However, despite these new powers, questions are growing about how the EU actually intends to enforce these rules, especially in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
“It remains to be seen what the EU will do, as some investigations have gone further than others, but it is also clear that US tech companies will try to use the Trump administration to push out EU regulations,” Dexter Thillien, principal analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC.
It comes as technology industry I'm trying cosily to Trump ahead of his second term as president. This will be done by Elon Musk from Tesla, Jeff Bezos from Amazon and Zuckerberg attend Trump's inauguration According to NBC News next week.
Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week called on the new US president to look at the EU's approach to Big Tech, saying the bloc's way of applying competition rules is “almost like a tariff.”
EU official Virkkunen is part of a new team of politicians who started work as a member of the EU's executive in December. Until now, the bloc has been considered a leader in technology regulation and has opened the door to several investigations into the behavior of Big Tech companies.
Asked whether she was considering taking a softer approach to the sector, Virkkunen replied: “We (have) a very clear legal basis and regulations in Europe and of course we now fully enforce them.”
Virkkunen did not say whether she felt pressure about Trump returning to the White House. Instead, it stated that “all companies, whether American, European or Chinese, must comply with EU rules.”
Investigation into the X case
In December 2023, Musk X was hit by first EU probe in accordance with the Digital Services Act. The European Commission is there assessment whether X breached its transparency obligations and its obligations to combat illegal content.
The institution said at the time that it was specifically assessing areas related to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and researcher access to data.
Just as Musk still does judge the far right before the German elections — including hosting live discussion with the leader of the AfD party Alice Weidel – questions arise as to whether the European Commission will assess this conversation as part of its investigation.
“This isn't about Elon Musk. It's about X,” Virkkunen said.
“X is (a) very large online platform, it needs to take on its responsibilities and assess and mitigate risks, such as what it publishes for electoral processes and civil discourse. However, (the European Commission) is already investigating this matter against X, and the scope of the investigation is already quite large,” she said, adding that “we are constantly monitoring” whether any new developments have occurred.