EU lawmakers approve regulatory framework for tech giants

European Union lawmakers on Tuesday approved a set of rules to rein in the power of tech giants, but enforcing them could be a problem given regulators’ limited resources.

The measures impact companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.

In addition to rules known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), lawmakers also passed the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires more enforcement by online platforms over illegal content on the internet.

Companies can face fines of up to 10% of annual global revenue for DMA violations and 6% for DSA violations.

Lawmakers and EU member states reached agreement on the two sets of rules earlier this year, leaving some details to be worked out.

The two projects drew on the experiences of EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in investigations into the companies. She created a task force within the DMA, which is expected to have about 80 employees, a number that critics consider inadequate.

Lawmaker Andreas Schwab, who led the issue in the European Parliament, called for a larger task force to tackle the deep pockets of big tech companies.

The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) cited the same concerns. “We raised the alarm last week with other civil society groups that if the Commission does not hire the necessary experts to monitor Big Tech practices in the marketplace, legislation could be undermined by ineffective enforcement,” said the deputy. director general of the agency, Ursula Pachl, in a statement.

The DMA was designed to force changes in the business of companies, requiring them to make messaging services interoperable and provide corporate users with access to their data. These users would be able to promote competing products and services and strike deals with customers outside of them.

Companies will not be able to favor their services over rivals or prevent users from removing pre-installed software or apps, two rules that will hit Google and Apple hard.

DSA prohibits advertising directed at children or based on sensitive data such as religion, gender, race, and political opinions. So-called dark patterns, tactics that trick people into providing personal data to online companies, will also be banned.