Big Tech pushback grows as EU tightens grip on online politics
The tech giant cited "legal uncertainties" surrounding new EU regulations as the reason for its decision, marking a significant shift in how political content will be managed on platforms like Facebook and Instagram during upcoming European elections.
The move aligns with a similar step taken by Google's parent company, Alphabet, in November last year, highlighting growing resistance among major U.S. tech firms to tighter EU regulation. Both companies are responding to the European Union's new Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, set to take effect on October 10, 2025.
The regulation, designed to curb disinformation and foreign meddling in elections, introduces strict requirements for digital platforms. Under the new law, political ads must be clearly labeled, identify the sponsors, disclose spending, and specify which elections they are targeting. Companies that fail to comply face penalties of up to 6% of their annual global revenue.
In a blog post, Meta acknowledged that the decision to halt political advertising in the EU was difficult but necessary. "This is a difficult decision—one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties," the company wrote.
Meta also warned that the new rules could have negative consequences for European citizens. "We believe that personalized ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged in campaigns to inform voters about important social issues," Meta said. "Regulations like the TTPA significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting the effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information."
The European Commission has resisted such arguments, asserting that greater transparency is essential to protecting democratic institutions. The EU is already investigating Meta's platforms—Facebook and Instagram—for alleged failures to combat disinformation and misleading advertising ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections. That investigation falls under the broader Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates that large online platforms take stronger action against harmful and illegal content or face severe penalties, including fines of up to 6% of global turnover.
Meta is not alone in facing scrutiny. ByteDance's TikTok is also under investigation for its handling of election-related misinformation, particularly during Romania's presidential elections last November.
The combined pressure from the TTPA and DSA reflects the EU's broader strategy to assert greater control over digital platforms and hold tech companies accountable for content shared on their networks, especially content related to democratic processes.
As the October 10 deadline approaches, Meta's decision to withdraw from political and social issue advertising in the EU raises concerns among campaigners and civil society groups that rely on digital outreach to inform voters and shape public debate. It also sets the stage for a more regulated and, potentially, more opaque digital election landscape in Europe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
5 hours ago
- Toronto Star
European leaders rally behind Ukraine ahead of Trump-Putin meeting
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European nations rallied behind Ukraine, saying peace in the war-torn nation can't be resolved without Kyiv, ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump had said Friday's meeting in Alaska with his Russian counterpart was to discuss ending the more than three-year war.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
European leaders rally behind Ukraine ahead of Trump-Putin meeting
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European nations rallied behind Ukraine, saying peace in the war-torn nation can't be resolved without Kyiv, ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Trump had said Friday's meeting in Alaska with his Russian counterpart was to discuss ending the more than three-year war. Zelenskyy responded by thanking European allies and wrote on X on Sunday: 'The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people.' Trump-Putin meeting spikes worries Saturday's statement by top European leaders came after the White House confirmed the U.S president was willing to grant Putin the one-on-one meeting Russia has long pushed for, and suggestions from Trump that a peace deal could include 'some swapping of territories,' raising fears Kyiv may be pressured into giving up land or accepting other curbs on its sovereignty. A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they aren't allowed to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that Trump remained open to a trilateral summit with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, but for now, he will have a bilateral meeting requested by Putin. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with top European and Ukrainian officials at the British Foreign Secretary's weekend residence to discuss how to end the war. Trump had earlier said he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Zelenskyy. The Trump-Putin meeting may prove pivotal in a war that began when Russia invaded its western neighbor and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there's no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. The statement Saturday's statement, signed by the president of the European Union and leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the UK, stressed the need for a 'just and lasting peace' for Kyiv, including 'robust and credible' security guarantees. 'Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny. Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,' the statement said. 'The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,' the Europeans added. A fruitless push toward a truce A monthlong U.S.-led push to achieve a truce in Ukraine has so far proved fruitless, with Kyiv agreeing in principle while the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking. Trump had also moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. The White House did not answer questions Saturday about possible sanctions. The Kremlin earlier this week reiterated demands that Ukraine give up territory, abandon its bid to join NATO, and accept limits on its military, in exchange for a withdrawal of Russian troops from the rest of the country. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' Ukrainian officials previously told the AP privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognize Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily. But Zelenskyy on Saturday insisted that formally ceding land was out of the question. — Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Greener steel arrives in Canada to a market in turmoil and future unclear
TORONTO – Like some superhero channelling the power of lightning, Algoma Steel Inc. has started using the heat cast off by the arcs of powerful electric currents to make greener steel. Electric arc furnaces are nothing new — the technology is more than a century old, and there's already a few in Canada — but Algoma is calling the achievement of production from its first of the kind furnace last month a win as it faces an existential threat from U.S. tariffs. 'We have reached a truly pivotal milestone for Algoma and the Canadian steel industry,' said chief executive Michael Garcia on a recent earnings call. 'Despite the uncertainty that the trade war has unleashed, this achievement reinforces our confidence in our transformation strategy.' Part of that strategy has been to dramatically reduce emissions in an attempt to differentiate its products; it even trademarked Volta as the name for its cleaner steel that it plans to produce from a mix of low-emission iron feed and scrap metal. But experts say the project is coming online as the market for green steel, and the metal more generally, faces turmoil from tariffs and price pressures, making it unclear what financial advantages producers may get from the big upfront investments needed. 'The question is, will the demand be there? Is there going to be sufficient demand in North America for green steel?' said Chris Bataille, who researches the steel transition as an adjunct research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. 'The U.S. was starting to move fairly quickly in terms of moving to electric vehicles and to cleaner steel and everything else under the last administration, but now we've got a complete U-turn.' Steel emissions had been a priority in the U.S., and remains one in Canada, because using coal to produce steel is so emissions intensive. Globally, steel production makes up about eight per cent of carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. But while it makes sense from an emissions perspective, buyers willing to pay a premium for the more eco-friendly steel have mostly been limited to the auto sector, said Bataille. European automakers have been paying a premium of as much as 40 per cent for the cleaner material, since they can use it for marketing while only adding a little to the end cost of a car, but the more important building sector has been more hesitant, he said. There is still demand in Europe, a region Canada has looked to diversify its exports, but with tariffs causing disruption there too it's not clear how much potential there is, said trade expert Tommaso Ferretti. 'There is a structural demand in Europe, but to what extent that structural demand will remain in place, it's a big question mark,' said the assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. Garcia himself has warned that Algoma doesn't see much potential to sell to Europe, or anywhere else internationally. 'We can put our steel on an ocean-going ship here in Sault Ste. Marie, but getting it to an export customer in Europe or elsewhere, there just aren't those opportunities right now. I don't think that there'll be a lot of those opportunities going forward, to be frank,' he said. The challenges help explain why the other flagship green steel project in Canada, at ArcelorMittal's Hamilton, Ont., operations, is stuck in neutral. The company made a big show of announcing in 2022 that it was moving ahead with a $1.8-billion project to move to green steel — but the last updates show the project is still at the engineering stage, with a spokesperson confirming there are no new milestones to report. Wider oversupply issues in the industry that have pushed down prices is part of the problem, as are doubts about policies like carbon pricing, said Bataille. 'There's some uncertainty about how fast the transition will go. … It's just a difficult business to make a buck, to be honest.' ArcelorMittal said in its latest sustainability report in April that it doesn't expect green steel projects to be economical until the 2030s, and that policies will be needed to address the high capital and operational costs. Federal and provincial governments in Canada have already stepped in to help out with capital costs. Algoma received $420 million to help cover the more than $880 million cost of its project, while ArcelorMittal was offered $900 million to help ease its overall costs. But unlike Algoma, ArcelorMittal's plans also include building a plant in Hamilton to remove oxygen from iron ore using hydrogen, rather than coal — a process that remains expensive, leading to several recent project cancellations. ArcelorMittal itself just cancelled two green steel projects in Germany in June, citing high electricity prices, while last year it noted the future of several other of its European steel projects is unclear because 'there is limited willingness among customers to pay premiums for low-carbon emissions steel.' Cleveland-Cliffs, which bought Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. last year, recently shelved plans for green steel conversion at a U.S. plant that already had US$500 million in government funding secured. Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, cited the lack of clear hydrogen supply as part of the reason for cancelling the project. He said on a July earnings call that plans to revamp the operation using existing resources, including 'beautiful coal,' generates a very good conversation with the current U.S. Department of Energy. Ferretti worries that the pressures the industry is facing will also mean less investment in research and development to try and bring costs down. He said there needs to be even greater collaboration between the public and private sector for the critical industry to chart a path forward. 'The real question in fact is to see … the collaboration between the companies, the steel manufacturers, Canadian government, and their ability to reinvent themselves.' Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. For Bataille, that path could include using Canada's vast renewable energy and iron ore deposits to build a direct reduction plant for processing closer to the source, and then shipping the already oxygen-reduced iron around the world. 'You could triple the value of those exports,' said Bataille. 'So on the one hand we face headwinds and the Chinese overcapacity continues, but on the other hand, I think there's new possibilities open in shipping green iron places that, you know, we hadn't considered before.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug 10, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:ASTL)
