The EU must “step up to become a true AI continent,” European tech sovereignty commissioner Henna Virkkunen told MEPs on Wednesday (29 January), as campaigners urged the bloc to stand up against US tech companies.
More than 35 European and US organisations have called on EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to enforce existing flagship EU laws against US Big Tech in a letter also sent out on Wednesday.
“Big Tech firms have always used their lobbying and extensive resources to try to avoid EU regulation and protect their ability to exploit users and businesses. We are concerned that from now on they will do so with the backing of the Trump administration,” Margarida Silva, campaigner at the Amsterdam-based NGO SOMO [Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations], one of the signatories, told EUobserver.
“Defending our democracy, digital sovereignty, and economy will require strong enforcement of our digital rulebook but also investment alternatives to Big Tech,” she added.
The letter comes at a time when US social media companies are requesting protection from the new Donald Trump administration against EU laws, including the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Earlier in January, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, asked Trump to stop the EU from fining US tech companies for breaching antitrust rules.
Zuckerberg also unilaterally announced this month he would cease fact-checking on Facebook.
Earlier this month, the commission announced it would extend the investigation started against Elon Musk's X in December concerning the platform's algorithm management.
The commission also has two legal actions opened against Meta and three on the Chinese platform TikTok.
“We are relieved to hear you remain fully committed to the strict application of the DSA and DMA and to enforcing those rules wherever companies do not comply in full,” the campaigners' letter stated.
On Monday, tech giants including Facebook, TikTok, and X, were invited by the commission to take part in a stress test to confirm the platforms have adequate security measures ahead of the German election next month, a commission spokesperson announced on last week.
This stress test comes after the Berlin-based non-profit think tank, CeMAS revealed last week how Moscow is leading a disinformation campaign on X, increasing pro-Russian far-right narratives prior to the February election.
The organisations also asked von der Leyen to strengthen EU tech sector sovereignty.
“We call on you to invest in a diverse and decentralised digital sphere that is part of a sovereign digital commons and not owned and governed by proprietary technology corporations,” the letter reads.
In her political agenda, von der Leyen already announced her desire for the EU to invest in “strategic technologies," including AI.