Facebook, Apple lock horns over new draft guidelines by European Union

Facebook and Apple on December 15 locked horns over new draft guidelines by the European Union that is aimed at curbing powers of the US corporations. The social media giant took a swipe at Apple Inc as it asked the EU to set boundaries for the firm after it introduced a privacy feature that allows users to block advertisers. The companies that majorly earn from the commercial gross sales said that they might incur great loss after Brussels unveiled tough draft rules to curb the power of the tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook by regulating the Internet. 

According to a report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the European Commission released its public draft of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) along with the Digital Services Act (DSA,) which targets the monopolization of the tech sector. “So the Digital Service Act and  Digital Markets Act will create safe and trustworthy services while protecting freedom of expression. Give new do’s and don’t to gatekeepers of the digital part of our world to ensure fair use of data, interoperability, and no self-preferences,” the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an online post. 

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Blocking the 'gatekeepers'

According to a report by Apple Insider, Facebook objected to Apple’s privacy policy, saying, that the power will be reigned by the firm despite European Union draft proposals. It further alleged that Apple controlled the tech ecosystem to harm the developers and consumers and platforms like Facebook. Meanwhile, in its response to Facebook, Apple alleged that the social media giant thrived on invasive policies and didn’t welcome transparency and customer preference. EU’s Digital Markets Act aims at blocking the gatekeepers from practicing the unfair conditions to curb smaller businesses.

The new framework will foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness, and facilitate the scaling up of smaller platforms, according to the EU Commission's release. The Commission’s draft, which aims to regulate the tech giants by dividing their businesses as 'core services', will be submitted for vote at the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The draft also seeks to charge 10 percent of the firms' global annual revenue in fines for violating the new protocols. This would imply an estimated $7.1 billion fine for Facebook. 

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