Don’t let Big Tech rewrite EU law: EU must stay the course on ground-breaking tech regulation

To safeguard its democratic and social model based on freedom, equality and inclusion, the EU must resist attempts to water down its pioneering legislation regulating digital space

With growing pressure from parts of the tech industry to dilute hard-won regulatory advances, EU leaders and civil society are calling for unity to protect Europe’s democratic values and digital sovereignty.

Without strong, unified rules we risk empowering systems that harm the most vulnerable, prioritise private interests over the public good and undermine democracy itself, said the speakers at the debate on Democracy and Digitalisation during the EESC plenary session on 29 April.

The debate came days after the EU fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaching Europe’s digital rules – the first penalties issued under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which regulates how tech giants operate in the EU market. Together with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, the DMA forms a digital rulebook shaping Europe’s tech governance.

‘The EU’s leadership in the digital domain is more crucial than ever – especially at a time when parts of the tech industry are beginning to push back against regulatory efforts’, said EESC president Oliver Röpke.

‘The DSA and DMA have the potential to become historic milestones – provided that the EU, Member States, civil society and the business community remain committed to their robust implementation. They are not instruments to censor anybody, but to foster debates based on facts’, he stated.

‘With transparency and rules in the digital space, we aim to prevent the interests and profits of a few from prevailing over the public interest’, said Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament and co-rapporteur on the AI Act.

EU legislators now face pressure to weaken or delay these laws, amid claims that they censor free speech and stifle innovation. Another key challenge is avoiding fragmented implementation across Member States and raising public awareness about why regulation is necessary. If used responsibly, digital technologies can create enormous opportunities. Left unchecked, they can cause lasting damage to democracy and the EU’s core values.

The discriminatory potential of AI is well-documented. There have been cases where algorithmic decision-making unfairly penalised people, such as candidates being downgraded due to maternity leave, said Iverna McGowan from the Office of the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She stressed that the idea that the regulation hinders innovation must be debunked.

Udbar Tiwari, Vice-President for Strategy and Global Affairs at the Signal Foundation, emphasised the importance of encryption in protecting free expression and privacy.

‘Compromising encryption is a red line. In today’s world of ongoing geopolitical turmoil, it is vital to invest in it’, Mr Tiwari said.

He warned against regulatory loopholes that weaken encryption, and advocated investment in non-profit, public-interest technologies like Signal, which offer alternatives to corporate-controlled platforms. Still, encryption remains under threat from global legislative developments – such as client-side scanning – which could turn personal devices into surveillance tools.