Several online platforms, including Chinese retailers AliExpress and Temu and social media giants Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, are being probed under the European Union’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA).
The law requires the world’s largest tech firms to do more to protect consumers online and police content online.
“I’m expecting that in the coming weeks and months, we will be able to finalise many of those investigations,” Virkkunen said, adding that “these are now the first decisions we are going to make under the Digital Services Act”.
After the conclusions of the inquiries, many of which have been underway for over a year, new ones await, Virkkunen added.
“We will probably start new ones because the DSA, of course, it’s a huge legislation,” she said.
So far, the EU investigations have focused on the “transparency of these platforms, but also protection of our democratic processes, protection of minors, online shopping”.
Fines for violating DSA rules can go as high as six percent of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover.
US President Donald Trump, who has shaken up global trade by imposing tariffs on America’s trading partners, has threatened to add to levies on countries he accuses of targeting US tech companies.
Virkkunen said it was “the sovereign right of the European Union to decide about our own digital rules”.
She added that the EU would continue to enforce the DSA and Digital Markets Act (DMA) “because these are very fair and transparent legislations and rules for everybody who’s doing business and operating in the European Union”.
She also said the European Commission’s aim was “to make Europe faster and easier, simpler for the businesses”.