A top EU official has denied taking a softer approach to Big Tech, citing a “very clear legal basis” for regulators and noting several ongoing investigations into platforms similar to social media. X AND Meta.
The FT reported earlier this week that the EU was reassessing the investigations Apple, Google and Meta – a process that could eventually lead to the reduction or refocusing of investigations by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
However, speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president for technology sovereignty, pushed back.
“We have our Digital Services Act that came into force a little over a year ago and there are some formal proceedings going on against, we can say, all the big platforms: the Meta platforms, Instagram, Facebook, also in X and with TikTok”, said Virkkunen.
“We are continuing the work, so there are no new decisions, so we are doing the investigations. [to see] if they comply with our rules,” she said.
The Digital Services Act, or DSA, which came into full force in 2024, gives EU institutions the power to regulate Big Tech in a bid to prevent illegal and harmful online activity and crack down on disinformation.
Despite these new powers, however, there are growing questions about how the EU will actually enforce the rules, especially after President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“It remains to be seen what the EU will do, as some investigations have gone further than others, but it is also clear that US tech companies will try to use the Trump administration to push back the rules on EU,” Dexter Thillien, lead analyst. in the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC.
It comes as the tech industry tries to come to terms with Trump ahead of his second term as president. Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Zuckerberg will attend Trump’s inauguration next week, according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week called on the next US president to look at the EU’s approach to Big Tech, saying the way the bloc applies competition rules is “almost like a fee”.
EU official Virkkunen is one of a new team of politicians who began their work as members of the EU’s executive arm in December. Until now, the bloc has been considered a leader in tech regulation and has opened the door to several investigations into the behavior of Big Tech companies.
When asked if she was considering taking a softer approach to the sector, Virkkunen said: “We [have a] legal basis and very clear regulatory rules in Europe, and of course, now we are fully implementing those rules.”
Virkkunen did not say whether she was feeling pressure as a result of Trump’s return to the White House. Instead, she said, “all companies, whether American, European or Chinese, must comply with EU regulations.”
Investigating X
In December 2023, Musk’s X was hit with the EU’s first investigation under the Digital Services Act. The European Commission is assessing whether X breached its transparency obligations and its duties to combat illegal content.
At the time, the institution said it was specifically evaluating areas related to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, ad transparency and data access for researchers.
As Musk continues to take on the far right ahead of Germany’s election — including hosting a live discussion with AfD party leader Alice Weidel — there are questions about whether the European Commission will consider the conversation part of the investigation.
“This isn’t about Elon Musk. It’s about X,” Virkkunen said.
“X is [a] very large online platform, they must take their responsibilities and must assess and mitigate the risks, for example, what they post about electoral processes and civic discourse. But [the European] The commission is already investigating X for this and the scope of the investigation is already quite large,” she said, adding that “we are constantly monitoring” in case of new developments.
