European Regulators Continue to Crack Down on Big Tech Companies

European regulators are intensifying their efforts to keep a close eye on big technology companies, as evidenced by recent actions taken against various industry giants. The latest development involves a raid by French antitrust authorities on the offices of technology firm Nvidia, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. While Nvidia declined to comment, the raid signifies the ongoing scrutiny faced by Big Tech companies in Europe.

Microsoft, for instance, announced in August that it would unbundle its chat and video app Teams from its Office product to avoid potential EU antitrust fines. The European Commission had launched an investigation into Microsoft’s Office and Teams tie-up the previous month. Similarly, Meta Platforms offered to limit the use of competitors’ advertising data for its Facebook Marketplace service in an attempt to settle an EU antitrust investigation. However, regulators rejected the proposal. Meta was also fined a record 1.2-billion euro ($1.27 billion) by the EU’s lead privacy regulator for its handling of user information.

Alphabet’s Google is facing the possibility of having to sell part of its adtech business to address concerns about anti-competitive practices, following a warning from EU regulators. Apple has been accused of restricting rivals’ access to its tap-and-go technology, NFC, and is currently under investigation. Amazon settled three antitrust probes in December 2022 after addressing the EU’s concerns over its use of sellers’ data. The EU has also identified 22 “gatekeeper” services run by major tech companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok-owner ByteDance, giving them six months to comply with the provisions of the Digital Markets Act.

Various national regulators have taken action as well. Italy’s antitrust agency has opened a probe into Apple for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market, while Meta faced measures in the country over an alleged abuse of its position regarding music rights on its platforms. OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot was temporarily banned in Italy over data protection concerns. The Dutch competition regulator rejected Apple’s objections against fines related to its failure to comply with regulations aimed at limiting the dominant position of Apple’s App Store. Poland’s competition and consumer protection authority accused Amazon’s European arm of misleading sales and delivery practices. Spain’s antitrust watchdog fined both Amazon and Apple for colluding to restrict the online sale of devices from Apple and its competitors in the country.

These actions highlight the growing efforts of European regulators to ensure fair competition and protect consumer rights in the digital marketplace. As the investigations and penalties continue, it remains to be seen how these developments will shape the future of Big Tech in Europe.