EU targets six Big Tech companies in next phase of digital crackdown

Six Big Tech companies including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft faced fresh pressure Wednesday from the European Union, which moved to counter their digital dominance with far-reaching rules aimed at giving users more choices and making competition fairer.

Google parent Alphabet, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance also were classified as online “gatekeepers” subject to the strictest requirements of the 27-nation EU’s Digital Markets Act. The list of do’s and don’ts seeks to prevent tech giants from cornering digital markets, with the threat of whopping fines or even forcing companies to sell off parts of their business to operate in Europe.