According to the Privacy and Consumer Rights Associations, as well as many academics, the right to sue technology giants for violating EU legislation that should limit their influence should be extended to European consumers as well as corporations.
An open call for associations and academics coincided with the final round of deliberations on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which was introduced more than a year ago by EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager and is currently being debated in the European Parliament and among EU nations.
According to Reuters, the bill comprises recommendations for technology firms and primarily targets technological behemoths Apple, Google, Facebook umbrella company Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, among other companies.
As currently written, only corporate clients should have the ability to sue technology corporations, but a group of 31 associations and academics feel that this should be changed to include citizens as well.
In an open letter to EU institutions, the group demanded that the DMA provide users with the ability to initiate litigation against third parties for infringement of DMA norms in member courts.
In addition to the European Consumer Protection Association BEUC and Privacy International, the letter was signed by the American Center for Digital Democracy and the Consumer Federation of America, the Union for Civil Liberties in Europe, European Digital Rights, and the European Union for Human Rights.
Academics from the University of Oxford, the Vienna University of Economics and Business in Vienna, and the University of Amsterdam joined them for the event.
MEPs are willing to discuss the option, but EU member states have so far refused to consider such proposals.
The coalition also called on EU legislators and member states to allow consumer organizations and representatives from civil society to participate in the mechanisms specified in the proposed law in order for their concerns to be taken into account in the Commission's decisions on technology giants.
