Individual users should be able to sue US tech firms in court for violating landmark EU legislation limiting their power. Privacy International, BEUC, and several academics laid forward this call.
The call by the coalition of 31 groups and academics comes as EU lawmakers and EU countries work out the final details of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It was proposed by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager just over a year ago but has yet to become law.
The draft DMA lays out a list of dos and don’ts for online gatekeepers. Apple, Alphabet’s Google, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are the prime US tech firms.
It only allows business users to sue firms that violate the law.
“The DMA must enable users, both individually and collectively, to bring enforcement actions for violation of DMA rules before national courts.”
The group said in an open letter to EU institutions.
While EU legislators are amenable to the proposal, EU countries have so far refused to comply with the request.
The alliance also encouraged parliamentarians and EU countries to allow consumer groups and civil society leaders to participate in the processes outlined in the draft rules; so that the Commission’s decisions on the digital giants reflect their requirements.
The Center for Digital Democracy and the Consumer Federation of America, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, European Digital Rights, and academics from the University of Oxford, Vienna University of Economics and Business, and the University of Amsterdam are among the other signatories to the open letter.