Battle Between Silicon Valley and Brussels to Rein in Big Tech

Read how the battle between EU vs US is not a small deal and how it is reining in Big Tech.

EU vs Us big tech battle is to rein big tech. The battle between Silicon Valley and Brussels is flourishing. Companies like Meta, Amazon and Instagram are under the deep scrutiny of EU. What can we expect in this tiff, there is more to see. The big techs are controlled by EU and for the good.

The big names in technology are frequently criticised for squeezing out competitors to dominate markets.To counter Big Tech's market dominance, the European Parliament passed the Digital Markets Act in July. Violations are subject to fines of up to 10% of a company's annual global sales.

The EU also pursued Microsoft for forcing its Internet Explorer browser on Windows 7 customers and Apple for allegedly preventing competitors from utilising the contactless iPhone payment system. The European Commission, which said earlier this month that it accused Meta of breaking anti-trust laws by linking to its classified advertisements business Facebook Marketplace, is also investigating Facebook parent company Meta.

Despite accusations that US technology corporations are diverting revenues to low-tax jurisdictions like Ireland and Luxembourg, the EU has had less success in pressuring these businesses to pay greater taxes in Europe. The European Commission famously ordered Apple to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes in 2016 after discovering that Ireland had given the business unlawful tax incentives in one of the most well-known cases. In a related instance, the Commission was unsuccessful in getting Amazon to pay Luxembourg 250 million euros in back taxes. Following intense pressure by European states, the G20 group of countries decided on a minimum 15 percent company tax rate, just like Amazon, Meta, and Instagram, in October 2021!Facebook and Twitter in particular are frequently blamed for failing to stop hate speech and disinformation.

The European Parliament enacted the Digital Services Act in July, which mandates that major online businesses stop hate speech, misinformation, and piracy or risk fines of up to 6% of their global revenue. In 2023, it becomes effective. Another charge against Google and other online platforms is that they profit billions on news without giving the sources any of the money. To combat this, an EU law was passed in 2019 that established a type of copyright known as "neighbouring rights," which enables print media to request payment for the use of their work.

In essence, the EU's control over major technologies is for the benefit of people, and we are.