EU crackdown on Big Tech is handing power to China, claim US congress members

The European Union’s crackdown on technology companies is failing to target Chinese tech giants while unfairly scrutinising Silicon Valley rivals, US politicians have said.

Lawmakers have raised concerns in a letter to Joe Biden, as they urged the president to push back against EU watchdogs to protect US interests. 

The European Commission has branded Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft as so-called digital gatekeepers under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, meaning they will be forced to follow strict new competition rules. 

However, the letter from a group of 21 members in the House of Representatives claims EU legislation has unfairly targeted companies in the US while ignoring competitors from China and Europe.

They said: “The designation of leading US companies as ‘gatekeepers’ threatens to upend the US economy, diminish our global leadership in the digital sphere, and jeopardise the security of consumers.”

Lawmakers accused the EU of implementing a “more favourable set of rules to European and other foreign firms, including Russian and Chinese firms”. 

The Congressmen questioned why Chinese technology giants, such as Amazon-rival Alibaba, telecoms company Huawei and games maker Tencent, had not been included under the rules. 

The EU’s regulations stipulate that a gatekeeper should have more than 45m active users within the bloc to fall under the regime.

The Congressmen added: “The EU inexplicably failed to designate any European retailers, content-sharing platforms, payments firms and telcos.”

The new rules laid out by Brussels, which will come into effect in March as part of the Digital Markets Act, could spark billions of euros in fines for tech companies. 

Under the legislation, firms will be blocked from sharing data between different platforms and unable to give favourable treatment to their own products in online search results.

A European Commission spokesman declined to comment on the letter. 

The letter comes as Google agreed to a $700m (£550m) settlement on Monday over claims its Play Store stifled competition and overcharged consumers.

The tech giant reached the deal with 50 US states after they brought proceedings on behalf of more than 100m people. 

As part of the settlement, Google will pay $630m into a fund for consumers while the remaining $70m will be shared among the 50 states.

Developers behind apps downloaded through the Play Store on Android devices typically have to hand Google 30pc of the money they make from consumers, which in turn leads to higher fees for smartphone users. 

Those fees have led to app developers pursuing claims against both Apple and Google, which develop iPhone and Android smartphone software respectively.

Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general, said: “We brought this lawsuit because it is illegal to use monopoly power to drive up prices and limit consumer choice.”

Wilson White, Google’s vice president of government affairs, said: “We’re pleased to resolve our case with the states and move forward on a settlement.”