EU Wants US Digital Tech Giants To Be Regulated By Law In The Countries They Are Registered In

Amazon is supposed to comply with the Luxembourg Act where its offices are registered. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - US tech giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon must be regulated by the EU country where they are based under EU rules. This comes as a prominent lawmaker said on Tuesday, October 5, as an attempt to hinder some countries from expanding the scope of the planned action.

This is part of a European Union campaign that requires the digital technology giant to be regulated under EU law, not US law. Currently, the digital technology giant is more submissive and obedient to the laws in the US itself as their first country of origin.

The country of origin principle is enshrined in EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's draft bill, known as the Digital Services Act, which requires US tech giants to do more to monitor the internet for illegal and harmful content.

The principle means Ireland is responsible for regulating Apple, Google's Alphabet unit and Facebook as they have their European headquarters there while Amazon is subject to Luxembourg oversight.

France and several other countries are trying to expand its Coverage. They are concerned that enforcement concentrated in just two countries could weaken the rules and also slow down decision-making.

MP Christel Schaldemose, who directs the DSA through the European Parliament and has the power to amend or add other provisions to it, backed the law's core proposal. "It makes sense to keep the country of origin principle," he told Reuters in an interview.

But Schaldemose wanted to go further than Vestager by including a ban on some targeted advertising on the DSA.

"Targeted ads based on your behavior on Facebook, for example, that shouldn't be. Ads based on the fact that you've visited websites to buy shoes and things like that, classic commercial ads should probably be allowed," he said.

Schaldemose said he hopes to finalize his draft with other lawmakers in the next two months so he can discuss a deal with EU states next year before the proposed rules can be implemented.