The European Union plans to introduce in coming weeks new proposals aimed at changing behavior—and, in some cases, business models—at large online platforms, reasserting the bloc’s role as global tech cop.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is completing regulatory plans outlining how online platforms should remove illegal content quickly and refrain from using their power to quash rivals or push their own products on their sites. The commission plans sanctions for violators that include fines and possible separation of assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Under the plans, the bigger and more influential a company—based on criteria including market share and revenue—the more obligations it will shoulder. The rules, though not targeting any specific company, are likely to apply to U.S. tech companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., according to EU officials.
In response to the coming regulations, tech companies and industry groups have warned against creating a new set of competition rules that could hobble innovation.
“We’re at risk of limiting entire ecosystems because of concerns that a handful of U.S. companies have gotten too big,” said Kayvan Hazemi-Jebelli, competition and regulatory counsel for the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a lobbying group that represents companies including Amazon , Facebook and Google.
