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In particular, the large corporations from Silicon Valley are the focus of the new laws
Photo: REUTERS FILE PHOTO / REUTERS
The internal motto of Facebook was initially: "Move fast and break things" - in other words: the industry does not hesitate, but prefers to destroy old structures instead of missing out on a potential opportunity.
The EU is sort of the opposite.
It sometimes takes more than a decade to enforce such trifles as regulation for charging cables.
The fact that it has pushed through the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act less than two years after the presentation of the first draft by the Commission can therefore be seen as a success.
But after today's vote, Europe is a long way from the "constitution for the Internet" that was once announced.
The gravitational field of billionaire corporations
You have to admit: Compared to other EU laws, the new regulations are a big hit, a paradigm shift.
The EU bodies have recognized that the digital corporations are developing their own gravitational field simply because of their size.
It is not only the network effect that attracts citizens to those platforms that already have the most members, so that such a platform has to make enormous mistakes in order to lose its customers again.
The billions in revenue generated are also changing the market in the long term.
The legend of the deeply innovative Silicon Valley hardly stands up to critical scrutiny, as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Co. simply buy up any competitor who could pose a threat to them.
What cannot be bought is copied.
As soon as an app is successful, for example with audio conferences, the big platforms follow suit.
From vertical videos to self-destructive messages, every fresh trend is shamelessly copied.
So far, corporations have been able to rely on the regulators only taking action once undeniable damage has already been done.
Reckless growth slowed down
The European Union has now done a lot to slow down growth as a sure-fire success.
Among other things, corporations are no longer allowed to unrestrainedly advertise their new acquisitions to their members in order to knock any competitors out of the market before they can build up an audience of their own.
They also have to ensure that the content on their platforms is moderated appropriately from the outset.
However, civil rights activists are right when they complain that Parliament and the Commission have fallen short in many areas.
In digital advertising, which is still the main source of income for the largest Internet companies, there have been cosmetic changes at best.
Even with the misleading designs that are supposed to entice customers to make more and more purchases, there are only tentative restrictions.
The legislators are too afraid that they could damage their own economy.
Because European Internet companies are not per se more ethical or customer-friendly than their US competitors.
Where possible, they embrace the same practices and global data trade that originated in Silicon Valley but does not stop at the borders of Europe.
break dynamics
If the EU wants to break through the self-reinforcing, often toxic mechanisms of the online industry, the work is only just beginning.
The General Data Protection Regulation has shown what can go wrong.
On the one hand, small business owners like hairdressers are afraid to keep their client lists.
On the other hand, the global data trade has not decreased, but rather is showering people's screens with more and more new cookie banners.
The reason for this is also an opaque network of regulators who, even years later, have still not found a common pace.
The Irish are accused of blocking regulation in order to keep the European headquarters of IT companies in the country.
In addition to the inertia of the European mother ship, there is also the lack of digital affinity on the part of German legislators.
The Federal Government and Bundestag have already anticipated some rules with the Network Enforcement Act and the new cancellation button.
But who is to ensure the enforcement of the new EU laws in Germany must first be negotiated.
Even the state media authorities have already thrown their hats in the ring.
If you are successful, the design of tomorrow's Internet will not only be decided in Brussels, Berlin and Bonn, but also at desks in Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Erfurt.
Move fast and break things?
Not with us, we are Europeans.
