• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 21, 2025

The European Commission in recent months seems to have pursued more aggressive regulations toward U.S.-based big tech firms in the ad industry, more so than in the past.

For the most part, big tech companies have become more confident in challenging EU regulations with the backing of Donald Trump. Not all challenges have been squashed.

Apple said Friday it will remove one of its most advanced, end-to-end encrypted security features for iCloud data storage based on a request by the European government that ordered the company to build a backdoor that would provide access to user data.

Advanced Data Protection, a strong form of security known as an optional feature that adds end-to-end encryption, will no longer be available in the UK for new users, the company said Friday.

The security feature supports iCloud data storage, device backups, web bookmarks, voice memos, notes, photos, reminders and text message backups.

One British user of iCloud cited being “disgusted in what the UK government have not asked for but demanded.” Paul W went on to write that “encryption does not mean we have anything to hide, but if the government can gain access then any state or hacker can.”

EU antitrust regulators also are preparing to charge Google with breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), after the company's proposed changes to its search results failed to ease the concerns of regulators and rivals, sources told Reuters.

The European Commission is preparing to charge Google with violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after the tech giant’s proposed changes to search results failed to satisfy regulators and rivals, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Google had announced changes in recent months to search results in an attempt to address the EU’s demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers. Most have been dismissed as non-DMA-compliant, according to the report.

Google also threatened to bring back blue links in search results if it cannot resolve rivals' demands, said one cited source, but the EU reportedly is not satisfied with that solution.

The DMA prohibits Google from favoring its own products and services on its platforms. The company could face fines of as much as 10% of its annual global revenue.

Google and Meta have also slammed the EU on how artificial intelligence innovation is being addressed. They say Europe is stifling AI with too many regulations, and some are not the correct ones.

Axel Voss, a German member of the European parliament, who helped to write the EU’s 2019 copyright directive, told The Guardian that there is a gaping hole in the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act that recently went into effect. The law was not written to deal with generative AI models -- systems that can generate text, images or music with a simple text prompt.

Critics warn that the ambiguous provisions could allow companies to use copyrighted material in training GAI models without compensation, potentially diminishing creative works and undermining intellectual property rights.