Europe looks beyond regulation in bid for tech leadership
Long known as the tech world’s rule-maker, the European Union is now trying to build the capabilities to compete globally.
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BRUSSELS: A new European social media platform is betting that privacy, identity verification and genuine human interaction can help it compete with American tech giants such as X and Bluesky.
W Social, which unveiled its platform at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, launched its public beta in Brussels last month.
The company says it wants to bring the “social” back to social media by prioritising interactions between people rather than chatbots.
It also plans to host all user data on European servers under European Union privacy laws, while adopting strict age and identity verification requirements.
Its launch comes as the EU seeks to regain greater control over its digital infrastructure and support home-grown innovation.
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NOT ONLY A REGULATORY FOCUS
For years, the EU has been known for setting global standards for digital regulation, from data privacy to online competition.
But there have been growing concerns that Europe is losing ground to the United States and China in advanced technologies. Now, policymakers want Europe to become a tech leader in its own right.
W Social says Europe will need to do more if it wants to achieve that ambition.
“The EU has been lagging behind; it also needs to help companies to succeed, it can’t only regulate them,” the platform’s co-founder and chairman Ingmar Rentzhog told CNA.
“If we don’t step up, all our innovations are going outside to other places.”
REDUCING DIGITAL DEPENDENCE
Europe remains heavily reliant on foreign technology.
According to the European Commission, the EU relies on countries outside the bloc for more than 80 per cent of its key digital products, services, infrastructure and intellectual property.
Recent tensions with Washington over digital regulation and economic security, and with Beijing over export controls and critical raw materials, have reinforced these concerns.
The European Commission last month adopted a Tech Sovereignty Package, a series of measures aimed at strengthening Europe’s digital capabilities.
The plans include expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure, increasing cloud computing capacity, boosting semiconductor production and diversifying digital supply chains.
For some European lawmakers, the issue is no longer just economic but strategic.
“IT solutions can be used as a tool, if not a weapon … to show your power, your superiority and that you can do much more than the others,” said Michał Kobosko, a Member of the European Parliament from the Renew Europe group.
Experts say tech sovereignty is not about isolating Europe from the rest of the world.
“The future for the EU is going to be finding other partners, which is why the package defines tech sovereignty not as isolation and protectionism but as openness to others who share similar standards,” said Sabine Muscat, a senior digital policy fellow at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, a European policy think-tank.
BALANCING GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS
The EU’s push for greater technological self-reliance will require careful diplomacy.
One priority is reducing dependence on Chinese technology in sensitive sectors, a move that risks straining one of the world’s largest trade relationships. Beijing has warned of possible retaliation, although talks between both sides continue.
Kobosko said the bloc also remains heavily dependent on Chinese exports of rare earth materials that are essential for many advanced technologies.
“We need to have access, we need to make sure that we have this access today and this access will be kept tomorrow, and China will not be introducing other forms of bans on the export of these critical materials,” he added.
At the same time, the EU must also navigate its relationship with the White House. US President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on European countries that impose digital services taxes, adding another layer of complexity to ties.
For Europe, the challenge is no longer just writing the rules for the digital economy. It must also prove it can build globally competitive tech companies while managing its relationships with Washington and Beijing.
Source: CNA/mp(dn)
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