Major technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, will face fines of up to 6 percent of their sales volume if they do not do what they have to do to process illegal content, and disclose more information about advertising business on their platforms under the EU's draft rules.
The EU's tough stance, which is due to be announced next week, comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny around the world of technology giants, data control, and access to their platforms.
The EU's head of digital affairs, Thierry Britton, who stressed that very large technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, should take more responsibility, will present a draft rules known as the Digital Services Act on December 15th.
The Commission's document on the Digital Services Act, seen by Reuters, identifies very large online platforms as those with more than 45 million users, equivalent to 10 percent of the EU population.
"Additional commitments to very large platforms are necessary to address the policy concerns and systemic risks posed by their services," the document said.
The tech giants will need to do more to address illegal content, such as hate speech, child sexual abuse material, abuse of platforms that touch fundamental rights, and deliberate manipulation of platforms, such as: the use of chat robots to influence elections and public health.
Companies will be asked to publish their advertisers' details online, and to show the indicators their algorithms use to suggest and arrange information. Independent auditors will monitor compliance, and the EU will force the rules to be enforced.
The draft rules may take a year or more to come into effect, as they must take into account the reactions of EU states and the European Parliament, and both are expected to face intense pressure.
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