Brussels: TikTok, Twitter, Apple, Amazon and other electronic platforms announced that the number of their users in Europe exceeds the threshold of 45 million, which exposes them to stricter rules than the European Union to monitor online content.
The companies published their figures before the expiry of a Friday deadline under a new EU digital services law that puts internet giants operating in Europe under scrutiny by the European Commission.
These platforms, which also include Google's search engine and map service, YouTube, and Meta's Facebook and Instagram services, all said they have more than 45 million monthly active users for their services.
The EU's new Digital Services Act aims to better tackle misinformation and hate speech, and hold large backbone networks accountable for their algorithms that determine what users see.
From summer 2023, the largest players in the sector in particular will be required to be audited at their own expense by independent bodies.
The "very large" online platforms, to which the strictest obligations apply, are those with more than 45 million active users in the EU. The European Commission will be able to impose fines of up to 6% of the turnover of these companies worldwide, up to a ban from operating in the European Union in case of repeated serious violations.
Most of these companies are American giant networks, including Google search engine (332 million users), YouTube (401.7 million), Facebook (255 million users), Instagram (250 million), Twitter (100.9 million), Bing (107 million). Millions). And the giant Chinese network, TikTok, revealed Friday that it has 125 million users in the European Union.
Some other major platforms, such as Amazon, Pinterest, or the Apple Store, merely indicated that they had exceeded the minimum threshold that qualifies them to be classified as “very large platforms,” without specifying the exact number of their users.
On the other hand, Spotify, Only Fans and Tinder networks confirmed that they did not reach this threshold.
European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrek commented, “Some platforms simply say that they have not reached this threshold. But this is not enough. The number is the number.”
"We call on platforms that have not yet done so to quickly publish their numbers," he added.(AFP)