Big Tech Firms on EU 'Hit List' Could Face Tougher Regulations: Report

European Union regulators are making a 'hit list' of up to 20 large internet companies, potentially including Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google, that will be facing new and tougher rules aimed at curbing their market power, the Financial Times reported. The big technology platforms will have to comply with tougher regulation than smaller competitors, says the report, citing people familiar with the discussions. New rules will force the companies to share data with rivals and be more transparent on how they gather information, the report said.

The list will be made based on parameters like market share and number of users, the report said, adding that the exact number of companies and the precise criteria for the list was still being discussed.

The EU is preparing to force big technology companies to share their customer data with smaller rivals, the publication had noted in another report published on September 30, citing an early draft of the 'Digital Services Act' regulations.

The draft suggests that technology giants may be banned from preferential treatment of their own services on their sites or platforms, to the detriment of rivals. The report had said that companies should not be allowed to pre-install their own applications on hardware devices, such as laptops or phones, or force other companies to exclusively pre-install their software.

When reached out for comments by Reuters, Goole had pointed to a blog post it had published in late September, which details its response to the draft regulations.

"The question is not whether data mobility or data access should be facilitated, but how to achieve their benefits without sacrificing product quality or innovation incentives," Google had said in the post.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

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