Security News > 2020 > December > EU, Britain to Toughen Rules, Fines for Tech Giants
Big tech companies face hefty fines in the European Union and Britain if they treat rivals unfairly or fail to protect users on their platforms, in proposed regulations unveiled Tuesday by officials in Brussels and London.
Big tech companies won't be allowed, for example, to stop users from uninstalling preinstalled software or apps, nor will they be able to use data from business users to compete against them.
The rules, known as the Digital Markets Act, allow for fines of up to 10% of annual global revenue and, controversially, set out three criteria for defining a gatekeeper: Companies that, for the past three years, have had annual European turnover of at least 6.5 billion euros; or a market value of 65 billion euros and at least 45 million monthly users; or 10,000 yearly business users.
In Britain, social media and other internet companies similarly face big fines if they don't remove and limit the spread of harmful material such as child sexual abuse or terrorist content and protect users on their platforms.
Under legislative proposals that the U.K. government plans to launch next year, tech companies that let people post their own material or talk to others online could be fined up to 18 million pounds or 10% of their annual global revenue, whichever is higher, for not complying with the rules.