Happy Tuesday! Listen to my other SXSW interview with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel here, and send news tips to: cristiano.lima@washpost.com.

Below: Senators are planning their own classified briefing on TikTok. First.

E.U. antitrust chief previews a new era of Big Tech oversight

After years of negotiations, the European Union’s sprawling competition rule book fully took effect this month, taking scrutiny of the tech sector’s biggest companies to new heights.

The sweeping regulations, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), are already forcing giants like Apple, Google and Meta to change their products to head off concerns that they may be stifling competition. But it could be years before its full impact is known. 

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s top official who oversees competition policy, told reporters at a recent SXSW roundtable in Texas that her next policy priorities are straightforward: “Implementation, implementation, implementation.” 

“We need to show the world that we are not only good at negotiating and passing legislation, we are also good at making it work,” she said.

I caught up with Vestager after the session to dig into some of the challenges European regulators may face in enforcing their new competition rules. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

What was your response to Apple barring Epic Games from launching a competing app store in Europe and later reversing that decision? Did their about-face address any potential regulatory concerns?

It came out of the blue. We were surprised but of course glad that they reversed the decision. It still remains to be seen to what degree alternative app stores [would] actually be able to have a presence in the Apple environment.

If Apple had not changed course, would you have viewed that as a DMA infraction?

It would have increased our interest even more.

More broadly, what’s your initial read of compliance across designated gatekeepers?

It’s really early days. There are different approaches between gatekeepers dependent on company culture. Some really have done everything possible to tick all the boxes, spirit and letter [of the law], good to go. And then we see some where a bit of the effort has been to find ways around the DMA. But we will know much more about this when we have read in detail the compliance reports. Noncompliance is not something that we want to sit on.

Staff capacity is always a challenge when going up against some of the most well-funded companies in the world. Does the E.U. have the resources it needs to enforce these laws?

We have obviously a very motivated team, but we will need to keep building resources to do this, also because we see that there may be more gatekeepers to come. 

Companies including X, formerly Twitter, and ByteDance have recently indicated that they could fall under the scope of the DMA. What’s your assessment there?

It’s quite recent that we got that notification so it’s a bit early to speak about that.

Under the DMA, regulators can level both massive fines and impose structural remedies. When might violations warrant one versus the other, and how are you thinking about using those tools?

The point of having a forceful toolbox is not to use a toolbox; it is to have compliance. It's not a success criteria of having to issue a hefty fine or to go to the very intrusive option of demanding the breakup of a company. But based on experience, if we do not have the option of really hefty fines, I don't think that we’d have compliance. We need that deterrence. 

Companies have already pushed back on their “gatekeeper” designations and may very well challenge any future enforcement actions. Are you at all concerned about long legal fights getting bogged down and potentially lessening the impact of these new rules?

We have shown in the antitrust cases we have that we are perfectly capable of defending our decisions, so I don't have reservations about that.

The Biden administration has offered conflicting messages on the DMA, with officials at times expressing support for the rules while other times voicing concern about its impact on U.S. businesses. How would you describe the message you’ve heard from them?

Actually [U.S. Trade Representative] Katherine Tai was more positive toward the DMA [at SXSW] than what I have heard before. That is very positive. [Like in the administration] there are different approaches between services of the European Union. I think our working relationship with U.S. colleagues is as good as it has been for a very long time. 

The DMA of course only covers the E.U., but are you hoping the regulations push companies to make changes to their products at a global level, or that other countries pursue similar rules, so that its impact extends beyond Europe?

Well, first and foremost, we are not and we should not be a de facto global regulator. We have a European jurisdiction. I hope that we can show that a regulatory approach is working, that what we get is actually real competition. We hope that with enforcement making the DMA a reality, consumers in other constituencies may think: ‘I want to have that too.’ 

The E.U. is investigating whether TikTok has an “addictive design” that is posing harm to children. Regulators in the U.S. are pursuing similar cases against tech platforms. Do you see that approach as a key to tackling concerns over child online safety?

I think it’s absolutely crucial to make sure that these services are not addictive, not challenging your mental health, but that these risks are being mitigated.

You’ve talked about looking into whether the E.U. can examine Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI for potential competition violations under E.U. laws. Have you made a determination? 

We will soon be done with our analysis. 

Is Google’s relationship with Anthropic also a part of that analysis?

It is not so far. It may be in the future.

Our top tab

Senators to host classified briefing on TikTok, data threats

Biden administration officials on Wednesday will give members of the Senate Commerce and Intelligence committees a classified briefing on threats to Americans’ personal data, including concerns around TikTok, according to a Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. 

The private session will come just a week after the House overwhelmingly passed legislation to force TikTok to be sold or banned in the United States. House lawmakers, who held a classified hearing with administration officials just days prior, credited the White House’s support with helping to get the measure through the chamber in sweeping and bipartisan fashion. 

The briefing this week is set to be hosted by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chair and ranking Republican of the Commerce committee, and Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chair and vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, the aide said. It will feature remarks from the Justice Department, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, they said.

“We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” TikTok said in a statement last week after the House vote.

Agency scanner

The Department of Homeland Security is embracing AI (New York Times)

Supreme Court likely to reject limits on White House social media contacts (By Ann E. Marimow and Cat Zakrzewski)

Hill happenings

House TikTok bill gives ByteDance 6 months to sell. That’s unlikely. (By Drew Harwell and Eva Dou)

Inside the industry

In latest AI war escalation, Elon Musk releases chatbot code (New York Times)

Group sues after novel Biden deepfake urged voters to skip N.H. primary (By Tobi Raji)

Reddit IPO filings reveal the company’s hopes — and fears (Wired)

Competition watch

Apple is in talks to let Google Gemini power iPhone AI features (Bloomberg)

Privacy monitor

Some states are fighting to protect voters from doxxing. They’re losing. (Politico)

After years of ransomware attacks, health-care defenses still fail (By Joseph Menn)

Trending

MrBeast strikes Amazon deal for biggest competition series in TV history (By Taylor Lorenz)

5 key moments from Elon Musk’s interview with Don Lemon (By Taylor Telford)

Daybook

• Tech trade group BSA holds an event, “AI in Government,” Tuesday at noon. 
• Axios hosts an event, “What’s Next Summit,” Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
• The congressional Data Task Force holds a public meeting Tuesday at 2 p.m.
• The Washington Post Live hosts an event, “The Futurist Summit: The New Age of Tech,” on Thursday at 9 a.m.
• The Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing, “Spectrum and National Security,” on Thursday at 10 a.m.
• The House Oversight Committee holds a hearing, “White House Overreach on AI,” Thursday at 10 a.m.

Before you log off

That’s all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to The Technology 202 here. Get in touch with Cristiano (via email or social media) and Will (via email or social media) for tips, feedback or greetings!