Why Europe shouldn't bow to Trump on Big Tech
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Just days after Mark Zuckerberg said he would shut down fact-checking for American users on Meta Platforms Inc., an obvious placating move to Trump, the European Commission has said it’s “assessing” investigations into the market dominance of Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Meta.
Confirming any information in Brussels is often a messy endeavor. “There is no such assessment taking place,” a spokeswoman for the commission told me. But at a press conference on Tuesday, another representative said “there may be a political reality that puts pressure on the technical work,” in response to questions about Trump.
Of course there is. It would be foolhardy for Europe’s antitrust cops to ignore what’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Among other things, Trump has threatened the region with tariffs, and Zuckerberg has accused the EU of “screwing with” US companies and urged the incoming president to stop the bloc’s fines and new standards.
But there’s a reason why this is in the news. Read between the tea leaves and it seems there’s concern in Brussels that its new antitrust officials won’t hold the line and enforce the quick and blunt regulatory tools given them by the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into force
