The European Commission has denied that it is delaying its probes into US tech giants such as Apple and Google after threats of trade measures from incoming president Donald Trump.
Responding to questions about reports from the Financial Times yesterday that investigations under the European Union's new Digital Markets Act (DMA) were being delayed after the companies asked Trump to intervene, Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen said "there haven't been any delays."
She said the EC will fully enforce the DMA rules, which govern social media, competition on search and app stores and other issues around the power held by large online platforms.
Virkkunen said the investigations into Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) and Google, were still in the technical phases, including communications between regulators and the companies.
She said the EC will be "fully enforcing" the DMA and digital services act, with the latter focusing more on safeguarding consumer protection while the DMA aims to provide the framework for a fair and competitive digital economy.
Defending the EU's laws from criticism from Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Virkkunen said the DSA was protecting, rather than limiting, freedom of speech.
Zuckerberg last week revealed that he was ending the fact-checking capability for Facebook and the company's other platforms in the US, but said there were "no immediate plans" to end factchecking in the EU.