EU says it will enforce digital rules irrespective of CEO and location

Brussels: The European Union is determined to enforce its full digital rule book no matter who is in charge of companies such as X, Meta, Apple and Tiktok or where they are based, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Politico.

“That’s why we’ve opened cases against TikTok, X, Apple, Meta just to name a few. We apply the rules fairly, proportionally, and without bias. We don’t care where a company’s from and who’s running it. We care about protecting people,” Politico quoted von der Leyen as saying on Sunday.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act has been strongly criticised by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

It sets out a list of dos and don’ts for tech giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, ByteDance, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, aimed at securing a level playing field and giving consumers more choices.

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In February, Trump signed a memorandum warning that his administration would scrutinise the bloc’s Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act “that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union”.

An EU decision on whether Apple and Meta have breached landmark tech rules aimed at curbing their market power will be issued in the coming weeks, EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said two weeks ago.

Both companies are expected to face modest fines for DMA violations, sources said.