For Europe, the result of next week’s elections in the US will have earnest consequences. At stake is NATO funding, as well as a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Forecasts suggest that the trade war with Donald Trump may hit the GDP of the bloc’s largest economy, Germany, within a year 1.5 percent. In comparison, the future of large technology is a secondary but tense issue. President Joe Biden’s administration has ushered in a fresh era of confrontation with the likes of MetaMicrosoft and Nvidiawho were brought to court during his term of office. The proposed split of Google is still under consideration.
Unlike many other places in the world where American technology reigns supreme, when the European Union establishes fresh rules, these companies take notice. In the Biden era, the EU has found an ally in its ambitions to dominate large tech, says Max von Thun, director of European and transatlantic partnerships at the Open Markets Institute. “Under Trump, or actually even below [former President Barack] Obama, there was a feeling that if the EU went too far, there would be a backlash from the United States,” von Thun explains, meaning that regulators believed that ordering companies to stop operations was not an option. “Whereas under the Biden administration, because the US is pursuing these types of measures, the EU believes we can do it too.”
Many people in Brussels would like to see this adjustment continue. Most Europeans use American search engines, browse American social media channels and shop on American e-commerce sites. There has long been concern that the dominance of the Big Five – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft – is stifling European competition and causing a lack of consumer change. This is not just a problem for EU regulators. It’s also on the minds of ordinary Americans, according to Democratic pollster Lake Research Partners. AND questionnaire of 600 likely voters in seven key battleground states and Ohio said 67 percent believe corporate power – and the lack of government response – is one of the country’s main advantages biggest problems. With the fresh Digital Markets Act, Europe has made clear its intention to limit the reach of tech giants. However, enforcing these fresh rules would be much easier with American support.
The politics of big tech in this election are chaotic. Silicon Valley titans are divided between Democrats and Republicans. During their campaigns, both Trump and Kamala Harris were undecided on how they would regulate the world’s largest companies. Trump has vaguely signaled that “something” needs to be done about Google to make the company “more equitable.” Meanwhile, Harris has so far remained silent on whether she agrees with Democratic mega-donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who has described the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust policy as a “war on American business.”
It is unclear to what extent Harris will continue Biden’s relatively confrontational approach. Biden has moved away from the policies of his running mate, Obama, who responded to European control of Google and Facebook by accusing the bloc of protectionismclaiming that European companies “cannot compete”. Harris’s own comments on antitrust laws have been scant, although she has long expressed interest in them data protection. “I believe Facebook has seen tremendous growth and has put its growth ahead of the well-being of its consumers, especially when it comes to privacy,” she said in a statement. CNN interview already in 2019. Pressed on whether the company should be dissolved, she replied: “Yes, I think we should look at it seriously.”
But big tech hawks in Brussels are closely monitoring Harris’ ties to Silicon Valley. Her brother-in-law Tony West, who was a close adviser, is Uber’s chief legal officer. Business announced in August that he would take unpaid leave to focus on the campaign. Google lawyer Karen Dunn has also been linked to Harris prepared her for the ABC debate last month.