Amazon, Google and Meta face possibly the biggest regulation in their history in EuropeThe EU is working on current and future laws to reduce the power of these groups in our lives.What conditions do you plan to place on Big Tech and how will they affect the use of technology?
Although we forget it all too often, the truth is that the Internet was not always as we know it today. Its development is full of all kinds of improvements and setbacks, and always limited by current regulations. Starting from this base, we cannot lose sight of the fact that a series of legal processes that will take place in the coming weeks suggest that Europe is about to rewrite the rules of the Internet. Yes again.
The fact is that at this time a law comes into force that will change the Internet forever, at least in Europe. We are talking about the European Union Digital Markets Law, a new legislation that aims to prevent the emergence of technological monopolies such as the current ones and that accumulating so much power is impossible.
In short, these provisions are expected to force Amazon, Google and Meta to make their platforms more open and interoperable by 2023, preventing them from closing in on themselves and restricting user margin. Their creators claim that freedom of action on devices and applications is greater than ever.
The EU, pioneer in the regulation of Big Tech
Regardless of how long it takes for this regulation to be implemented in practice, this is yet another reminder of how the European Union is several steps ahead of the United States in regulating Big Tech.
An article published a few days ago in Wired addresses this situation and tries to clarify some issues and questions that probably will draw the attention of Internet users, regarding how these changes will affect them.
Gerard de Graaf, a continental official who was key to the passage of the DMA in the middle of this year, will work in his own office in the United States to assess and disseminate the impact of the law on Big Tech.
«We expect the consequences to be significant“He said in relation to the consequences that these hitherto untouchable firms must face, in what he calls will be “opening their walled gardens” or Walled Gardens.
“If you have an iPhone, you should be able to download applications not only from the App Store, but also from other application stores or the Internet,” explained the manager in what they consider to be a more plural Internet, ready for users to secondary actors become protagonists, for example by receiving messages from Telegram or Signal.
The long-term suitability
Although it goes into effect now, technology platforms do not have to comply immediately, of course. First, the EU has to establish which companies are large enough and established enough to be classified as those that must comply with the strictest rules. De Graaf expects about a dozen companies to be included in this large group of monopolies.
The continental representatives are aware that they will win a wave of lawsuits against these new regulations, and that is precisely why they have traveled to California to help make it clear to the Silicon Valley giants that the rules have changed and that today they have no other possible option.
«The key message is that the negotiations are over, we are in a compliance situation“, he claimed.
Other upcoming laws
Tech companies will soon have to deal with a second EU law, the Digital Services Lawrelated to risk assessments of some algorithms and disclosures about automated decision making, which could force social apps like TikTok to open up their data to scrutiny.
That law, like the previous one, will be implemented in stages, and the largest online platforms are supposed to have to comply by mid-2024, although the deadlines are contingent on the incorporation of certain specific rules regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence even prohibiting one or the other use of it.
The aforementioned expert has been critical of recent interventions, arguing that the lack of firm regulation can undermine public confidence in technology, and believes that if the adoption of advances such as Artificial Intelligence is not transparent, consumers will end up moving away from it to protect their security.
With emphasis on minors
In addition to this, another concern of the specialists is to have laws aimed at knowing how companies use the data they collect on children. Something logical given the uncertainty that parents have when their children spend many hours in front of the screens, in many cases without being aware of the risk they are running.
