The European institutions are clearly fed up, so they increased regulatory pressure on large American technology companies, while Washington responded with countermeasures that open a new political conflict over the digital market and control of the Internet.
Italian regulator AGCM fined the company Meta for finding that WhatsApp, which holds more than 90% of the mobile messenger market in Europe, restricted the work of other AI chatbots. By changing the terms of use, Meta prevented competing AI assistants from working on the platform, which was assessed as an abuse of a dominant position and a brake on technological progress. The EU Commission is conducting a parallel investigation.
All about the strengthening of EU regulations and the political response of the USA
Apple was fined €98 million for abusing its position in the App Store ecosystem, while X (formerly Twitter) was fined €120 million earlier this month for flagging accounts and ad rules.
As a series of sanctions sweep across Europe, the US has imposed visa restrictions on a number of officials and heads of non-governmental organizations that cooperate with European regulators. Among them is Thierry Breton, the architect of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which obliges large platforms to remove illegal content and misinformation under the threat of heavy fines.
Washington estimates that the European measures directly affect American technological giants and presents them as a threat to freedom of speech and a form of non-tariff barrier. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the EU is “systematically pressuring US platforms through censorship and limiting revenue”. US Vice President JD Vance also said that Europe is “attacking American companies for political reasons”.
In response, the EU says the US move is unacceptable among allies, stressing that it will defend regulatory sovereignty and the principles of a fair digital market. French President Emmanuel Macron accused the US of trying to intimidate and undermine European digital autonomy.
According to current developments, the conflict over the regulation of large platforms has grown from an economic issue into an open political and diplomatic contest that could define the rules of the digital market for years to come, reports MSN.