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EU seeks to block political ads that target people's ethnicity or religion
Organizations would need to disclose how ads are paid for and how they are targeting certain groups.
EU opens antitrust probe into Google's advertising tech
European regulators have launched an antitrust investigation into Google's advertising policies.
European Commission may soon open an antitrust investigation into Facebook
The EU is readying a formal antitrust probe into Facebook's classified ads operation.
EU approves rules for rapid takedown of online terrorist content
Platforms will have an hour to remove such material or face possible fines.
Microsoft's $7.5 billion ZeniMax acquisition approved by US and EU regulators
The European Commission has unconditionally cleared Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax, owner of games studios Bethesda, id and Arkane.
Epic Games brings its antitrust feud with Apple to Europe's competition watchdog
Epic is taking its dispute against Apple's App Store practices to Europe by filing a complaint with the European Commission.
The EU wants an investigation of the Switch's Joy-Con 'drift' issues
The European Consumer Organisation received more than 25,000 complaints over the problem.
The EU could break up big tech companies that violate stricter rules
The UK is also planning to clamp down on harmful content on social media.
Tech giants call for more content liability protection in the EU
Safeguards would give them more leeway to tackle hate speech, a lobby argued.
The EU is testing cross-border COVID-19 contact tracing
Six countries are trialing the system, which should go live next month.
Social media companies are better managing hate speech, EU says
An average of 90 percent of flagged content is now assessed within 24 hours, compared to just 40 percent in 2016.
EU opens Amazon probe to see if it used merchant data to gain an advantage
On the same day that Amazon announced plans to overhaul its business terms for its third-party sellers, the European Commission (EC) has opened a formal antitrust investigation into the retailer, designed to assess whether its use of sensitive merchant data is in breach of EU competition rules.
Apple says Spotify wants 'the benefits of a free app without being free'
Apple is firing back in response to Spotify's European Commission (EC) complaint. In a newsroom release, the company said that Spotify "seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem ... without making any contributions to that marketplace." It added that the App Store has generated $120 billion for developers while offering users a secure platform, and that Spotify is seeking to side to sidestep the rules that every other app follows. "Spotify has every right to determine their own business model, but we feel an obligation to respond when Spotify wraps its financial motivations in misleading rhetoric about who we are," the company wrote.
After Facebook and Google, the EU tackles... daylight savings
After holding tech giants to account with fines and legislation, the European Commission (EC) sights are now trained on a new target. The commission is polling EU residents to figure out whether it's time to reconsider daylight savings.
EU: Amazon must pay back €250 million in unfair tax benefits
The European Commission says that Amazon received tax benefits from member country Luxembourg that totalled around €250 million. Under EU State aid rules, this is illegal and the country has been told it must recover this sum. Amazon was able to pay substantially less tax -- the commission says the company was paying four times less than other local companies. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: "Following an in-depth investigation launched in October 2014, the Commission has concluded that a tax ruling issued by Luxembourg in 2003, and prolonged in 2011, lowered the tax paid by Amazon in Luxembourg without any valid justification."
EU fines Google a record $2.7 billion for abusing product searches
The European Commission's long-running investigation into Google has finally come to an end, and it's not good news for the search giant. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager confirmed today that the company has been fined €2.42 billion ($2.72 billion) for unfairly directing users to its own products rather over those of its rivals. It's the biggest financial penalty the Commission has ever handed out, eclipsing the €1.06 billion ($1.4 billion) charge incurred by Intel back in 2014.
EU: Social networks are getting better at reviewing hate speech
Calls for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft to get better at removing hate speech on their networks have partly been acted upon, the European Commission confirmed today. Officials noted that in the last six months, Facebook did a better job than its rivals at reviewing the most complaints within the 24-hour window agreed with the Commission a year ago.
Facebook fined €110 million for misleading EU over WhatsApp takeover
After months of deliberation, the European Commission has ruled that Facebook intentionally mislead officials over its ability to utilize data following its acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. As a result, the social network has been fined €110 million ($122 million or £94 million) and becomes the first company to be penalized under the Commission's Merger Regulation law since it was introduced in 2004.
EE is trying to take credit for the EU's free roaming law
On June 15th, UK mobile operators will be forced to abolish roaming fees for customers travelling across Europe, thanks to a European Commission directive that's been two years in the making. Britain's biggest carrier, EE, must abide by the new law, but it won't let that stop it from taking some of the plaudits. Today, the company announced that it will "launch European roaming for all customers at no extra cost". The launch date? June 15th.
EU tool lets whistleblowers report anti-competitive companies
In a bid to surface more illegal tax deals and clamp down on shady practices like price fixing, the European Commision has launched a new tool to let whistleblowers anonymously come forward. The regulator has set up a tips hotline and a public email address (if the person doesn't mind being named) but now also hosts an encrypted web form that can "alert the Commission about secret cartels and other antitrust violations" while protecting a person's identity.
