The big tech giants are in trouble again and this time around, complaints have been lodged by members of the European Parliament.
Amazon, Google, and Meta have reportedly been accused of carrying out lobbying practices that are not in line with the European parliament. The complaints were lodged with the European Union’s Transparency Register which went into detail about how the shady behavior couldn’t be tracked in detail because it breached all rules linked to transparency.
The tech giants were accused of utilizing small-scale firms to ensure the practices were hidden from the sight of others. But the complaints don’t end there. Reports from media outlets like Bloomberg have also suggested that the aim was targeted at various tech firms and a bunch of other lobby groups.
The new cases were filed by three different social democrats who are now calling out the accused to be punished by having their access denied in the European Parliament if a solution on the matter can’t be reached and they’re not held accountable for the actions. It’s a serious ordeal as a total of nine complaints were filed.
Seeing such behavior come into play despite so many watchdogs in place is concerning and that’s why the matter is not being ignored. Seeing transparency rules be obliterated and big tech firms doing whatever they feel is not going to be tolerated. And that's because it can have serious consequences on the future of digital policies and their making.
These accusations by MEPs come after a report was launched in April were some groups of civil society saw how such big names in the tech world were using their power to influence EU policy files. Therefore, they were seen spending more making amendments that would be drafted into the regulation.
All moves imaginable were made in the name of lobbying such as adding suggestions to late-stage policy discussions and giving lawmakers wording for changes that would not threaten their own benefits.
This is why the way such companies are interfering with strategies can’t be overlooked and should instead be monitored better with actions taken to work against them.
Experts feel such incidents are putting into the spotlight a major concern that the European Union lacks. There are so many examples of how tech giants have been able to get away with things that worked well in their best interests, showing a selfish and greedy reflection.
So what do the firms have to say against the accusations brought up against them? During that time, Meta was not seen providing any form of response. On the other hand, both Google and Amazon were seen denying the breaches linked to EU lobbying.
It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get to the bottom of this. But one thing is for sure, it’s high time someone got to the bottom of it as it’s been restraining the words of democratic accountability for a while now.
Update: In an email Amazon's spokesperson said that, “In the EU, Amazon has not asked the Connected Commerce Council to lobby on the DMA, DSA or any other European legislation”.
Read next: New Study Says Game Developers Are Focusing More On PCs And Laptops
Amazon, Google, and Meta have reportedly been accused of carrying out lobbying practices that are not in line with the European parliament. The complaints were lodged with the European Union’s Transparency Register which went into detail about how the shady behavior couldn’t be tracked in detail because it breached all rules linked to transparency.
The tech giants were accused of utilizing small-scale firms to ensure the practices were hidden from the sight of others. But the complaints don’t end there. Reports from media outlets like Bloomberg have also suggested that the aim was targeted at various tech firms and a bunch of other lobby groups.
The new cases were filed by three different social democrats who are now calling out the accused to be punished by having their access denied in the European Parliament if a solution on the matter can’t be reached and they’re not held accountable for the actions. It’s a serious ordeal as a total of nine complaints were filed.
Seeing such behavior come into play despite so many watchdogs in place is concerning and that’s why the matter is not being ignored. Seeing transparency rules be obliterated and big tech firms doing whatever they feel is not going to be tolerated. And that's because it can have serious consequences on the future of digital policies and their making.
These accusations by MEPs come after a report was launched in April were some groups of civil society saw how such big names in the tech world were using their power to influence EU policy files. Therefore, they were seen spending more making amendments that would be drafted into the regulation.
All moves imaginable were made in the name of lobbying such as adding suggestions to late-stage policy discussions and giving lawmakers wording for changes that would not threaten their own benefits.
This is why the way such companies are interfering with strategies can’t be overlooked and should instead be monitored better with actions taken to work against them.
Experts feel such incidents are putting into the spotlight a major concern that the European Union lacks. There are so many examples of how tech giants have been able to get away with things that worked well in their best interests, showing a selfish and greedy reflection.
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So what do the firms have to say against the accusations brought up against them? During that time, Meta was not seen providing any form of response. On the other hand, both Google and Amazon were seen denying the breaches linked to EU lobbying.
It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get to the bottom of this. But one thing is for sure, it’s high time someone got to the bottom of it as it’s been restraining the words of democratic accountability for a while now.
Update: In an email Amazon's spokesperson said that, “In the EU, Amazon has not asked the Connected Commerce Council to lobby on the DMA, DSA or any other European legislation”.
Read next: New Study Says Game Developers Are Focusing More On PCs And Laptops
