EU Competition Commissioner pledges to keep digital markets fair

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday criticised the technology "beasts" who are trying to block the entry of upcoming companies to the market.

Addressing the technology start-up event, Slush in Helsinki, Vestager defended the ongoing measures of the EU in controlling the digital markets. She said the EU tries to keep the markets open, and the situation should be "fair also to the smaller companies".

Complaining that untruths spread fast in social media, Vestager demanded that technology should serve the citizens. She gave the EU data protection act, or GDPR as an example of the actions for this purpose, Xinhua reported.

She urged that smaller companies dependent on major platforms should be treated on an equal basis. She assured that the EU does not plan to slow down innovation, but to build trust that is necessary for the business success.

Addressing the startup crowd, Vestager suggested that new companies could build their business on values that the right of the customers to protect their personal data is central.

The EU recently levied fines amounting to $4.3 billion to sanction the US company Google for misuse of its superior market position in gadgets using the Android system.

The EU believed that Google had abused its Android market dominance through bundling its search engine and Chrome apps into the operating system.

The EU is also investigating whether Amazon has negatively impacted the possibilities of small companies within its network operations. Vestager noted that the investigation into Amazon is at an early stage. The EU is also currently looking into the ADSense service of Google. (1 euro $1.13).

--IANS

pgh/