Amazon, Google, Facebook and more: the EU officially names the gatekeepers of the digital economy

The European Commission has named six Big Tech companies as gatekeepers of the digital economy, making them subject to stricter rules.

Transcript

00:00 Big tech is bracing itself for major change as the European Commission announced on Wednesday

00:06 one of the biggest ever crackdowns on some of the world`s largest businesses.

00:12 For the first time, the European Commission named six of what it`s calling gatekeepers,

00:16 digital platforms that provide a major gateway between businesses and consumers.

00:22 They will now be subject to a strict set of new rules.

00:26 It`s a very important milestone for freedom and innovation online in Europe. As the most

00:33 impactful online companies, we call them gatekeepers, will now have to play by our rules, our European

00:42 rules.

00:43 The six companies in the spotlight are Google`s parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok`s

00:48 By Dance, Meta and Microsoft.

00:51 22 online platforms have been identified as holding too much market power, including Instagram,

00:57 WhatsApp Messenger, YouTube and Google Search.

01:01 If gatekeepers failed to comply with the new rules by March next year, they could face

01:05 fines of up to 10 or even 20 percent of their worldwide turnover.

01:11 The point is not to completely revouche, to change completely their business model, but

01:16 they have to adapt it. For instance, Apple will have therefore to make what is technically

01:22 called as side loading, so the capacity of Spotify to connect directly with the user

01:28 more easily. So, Apple will have to change their product. So, I think the aim, the ultimate

01:35 aim is to have more players and more choice and more innovation.

01:39 The announcement is part of the EU`s Digital Markets Act, which aims to make it easier

01:44 and cheaper for smaller companies to compete within the digital market.

01:49 Despite this, experts expect there to be legal challenges to the new rules by some of the

01:53 freshly named gatekeepers.

01:55 Christopher Pitchers, Euronews, Brussels.

01:57 (whooshing)

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