ISLAMABAD: Irish regulators have once again exercised their authority, imposing a substantial 345 million euro ($369 million) fine on TikTok for data breaches.
The ongoing skirmish between the European Union and major tech giants encompasses a range of issues. These issues include tax avoidance, hate speech, data privacy, and monopolistic practices. This development is just one facet of the broader battle.
Ireland’s Data Privacy and fine Enforcement
Ireland’s emergence as a formidable enforcer of data privacy is attributed to its hosting of numerous big tech firms’ European offices. Friday’s substantial fine against TikTok, which resulted from mishandling children’s data, closely followed Ireland’s record-breaking penalty of 1.2 billion euros against Meta just four months earlier. The latter company faced penalties for illegally transferring personal data between Europe and the United States. Luxembourg had previously held the record for data-related fines, imposing a 746 million-euro penalty on Amazon in 2021.
EU Takes On Tech Giants: Google’s Regulatory Battles and Apple’s Scrutiny
Brussels has not hesitated to exert its regulatory power against tech giants accused of stifling competition, with Google bearing the brunt. It has incurred fines exceeding eight billion euros for abusing its dominant market position. In 2018, the company faced the EU’s largest-ever antitrust penalty, initially amounting to 4.3 billion euros (later reduced to 4.1 billion euros), for leveraging its Android mobile operating system to promote its search engine.
Google has also encountered billion-euro fines for alleged misconduct in online shopping and advertising sectors. The European Commission has even recommended that Google divest parts of its business, and failure to comply could result in a fine equivalent to 10 percent of its global revenue. Apple, too, has faced EU scrutiny for its dominance in the music streaming app industry.
Taxation Challenges
The EU has been actively pursuing tech companies to increase their tax contributions within Europe, accusing them of funnelling profits into low-tax jurisdictions like Ireland and Luxembourg. In a landmark case in 2016, the European Commission ordered Apple to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, alleging an unlawful sweetheart tax deal with the government.
However, EU judges overturned this decision, citing a lack of evidence of rule-breaking. The commission has since been making efforts to reverse this outcome. Additionally, the commission faced a loss in a tax case involving Amazon, which had been directed to repay 250 million euros in back taxes to Luxembourg.
Regulating Tech Platforms and News Compensation
The EU’s Digital Services Act, effective since August for 19 major platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, mandates tech companies to combat issues like hate speech, disinformation, and piracy or face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover. Google and other online platforms have faced accusations of profiting from news content without fair compensation to creators. To address this, the EU introduced “neighbouring rights” as a form of copyright, allowing print media to demand payment for their content’s use.
France served as a testing ground for these rules, leading to agreements between Google, Facebook, and some French media outlets to compensate them for articles displayed in web searches, overcoming initial resistance.
