Big techs face strict online content rule in the EU – 02/17/2023 – Market

Google, Meta, Twitter and Apple face stricter EU online content rules, based on monthly user numbers published by the companies, which exceeded a threshold for major online platforms in the region.

The new rules known as the DSA (Digital Services Act) classify companies with more than 45 million users as very large online platforms and subject to obligations such as risk management and external and independent audit. They are also required to share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct.

The European Commission had given platforms and search engines until February 17 to publish the amount of monthly active users.

Twitter said it has 100.9 million average monthly users in the European Union, based on a 45-day estimate.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, provided one set of numbers based on user accounts and another set based on signed-out recipients, saying users can access its services regardless of whether they sign into an account or not.

The company said the monthly average number of connected users totaled 278.6 million on Google Maps, 274.6 million on Google Play, 332 million on Google Search, 74.9 million on Shopping and 401.7 million on YouTube.

Apple has said that only its App Store for iPhones, with more than 45 million monthly users, qualifies as a very large online platform. But the same rules will also apply to the App Store for iPads, Mac computers, Apple Watch and Apple TV.

Earlier this week, Meta said it had 255 million average monthly active users on Facebook in the European Union and around 250 million on Instagram in the last six months of 2022.