The European Commission is putting forward new rules that will shake up how Big Tech works.

歐盟委員會正在提出新的規則，將動搖大科技的運作方式。

These enormous companies are wary of the regulation  and complain it could hinder innovation.

這些龐大的公司對監管持謹慎態度，並抱怨這可能會阻礙創新。

So why is the European Union getting so tough on Big Tech?

那麼，為什麼歐盟對大科技的態度會如此強硬呢？

Over the past few years, the European Commission has opened a series of investigations

在過去幾年中，歐盟委員會展開了一系列調查

into companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.

成谷歌、Facebook和亞馬遜等公司。

This is because the European Commission is concerned about how powerful these companies have become.

這是因為歐盟委員會對這些公司的實力感到擔憂。

The main worry is that they're preventing other smaller firms from competing in the European market.

主要擔心的是，他們阻止了其他小公司在歐洲市場的競爭。

But these investigations  have dragged on for years, 

但這些調查已經拖了好幾年。

resulting in lengthy legal  disputes and few practical changes.

導致法律糾紛冗長，實際變化不大。

A recent example is the case  involving Ireland and Apple, 

最近的一個例子是涉及愛爾蘭和蘋果的案件。

which has its European  headquarters in the country.

該公司的歐洲總部設在該國。

In 2016, the commission ordered Ireland, a member of the EU,

2016年，該委員會命令歐盟成員國愛爾蘭。

to recoup €13 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple. But both the Irish government

以從蘋果公司收回130億歐元的未繳稅款。但無論是愛爾蘭政府

and the California-based iPhone maker have contested this decision.

和位於加州的iPhone製造商對這一決定提出了異議。

The EU's general court said in July that the commission failed to prove

歐盟普通法院7月表示，該委員會未能證明

that there had been a tax advantage and the dispute has now proceeded

有稅收優惠，現在爭議已經開始。

to the EU's highest court, more than four years after the case began.

到歐盟最高法庭，在案件開始4年多後。

There is a great deal of frustration by many, including the European Commission itself,

包括歐盟委員會本身在內的許多人都感到非常沮喪。

the parliament, member states, and many others

議會、成員國和許多其他國家

about the failure of existing competition law and competition enforcement.

現有競爭法和競爭執法的失敗；

And so there has been a sort of a rising tide towards regulating these companies.

所以，對這些公司的監管也出現了一種上升的趨勢。

But there is more: European policymakers have said that

但還有更多。歐洲的政策制定者說

the current rules were not designed for a digital economy and need to be updated.

現行規則不是為數字經濟設計的，需要更新。

We are coming from past years where the regulation has been fragmented,

我們從過去幾年的監管一直是碎片化的。

where the regulation has become quite old to be honest,

說實話，在那裡的監管已經很老了。

and where enforcement and cooperation in Europe were quite limited.

而歐洲的執法和合作相當有限。

The need for the European authorities to take our destiny in control

歐洲當局需要掌握我們的命運。

and actually to push for what they called digital sovereignty is reflected in this regulation.

而實際上要推動他們所謂的數字主權，在這個法規中就體現了。

This will be a game-changer.

這將是一個遊戲規則的改變。

At the same time, there's strong public support in Europe for tighter regulation of the digital giants.

同時，歐洲公眾強烈支持加強對數字巨頭的監管。

Why do you think the European Commission is coming up with this new regulation now?

為什麼你認為歐盟委員會現在要出臺這個新規？

There is a lot of, you know, political backlash against the tech firms

有很多，你知道的，政治上對科技公司的反擊。

and there is the feeling that something has to be done.

並且有一種必須要做什麼的感覺。

Many European countries have independently developed plans to tax tech giants more.

許多歐洲國家都獨立制定了對科技巨頭徵收更多稅收的計劃。

But there are concerns that a fragmented approach is less effective than rules applying across all 27 member states.

但有人擔心，分散的方法不如適用於所有27個成員國的規則有效。

That's why the European Commission has been working on new regulation to prevent tech firms from abusing their powers.

所以歐盟委員會一直在制定新的法規，以防止科技公司濫用權力。

The new rules are expected to be divided into two complimentary pieces of law:

新規則預計將分為兩個補充法。

the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.

《數字服務法》和《數字市場法》。

The Digital Services Act is expected to police content on key platforms.

數字服務法》有望對主要平臺的內容進行監管。

It will allow for increased oversight  of illegal and harmful content, 

可以加強對非法有害內容的監督。

and set rules for the use  of artificial intelligence.

並制定人工智能的使用規則。

The Digital Markets Act is set to make competition fairer

數字市場法》將使競爭更加公平。

and reduce monopolistic behaviour. It could put an end to self-preferencing:

並減少壟斷行為。可以杜絕自我標榜。

for example, when Apple displays its own apps at the top of the App Store.

例如，當蘋果在App Store的頂部顯示自己的應用時。

These two acts could be viewed as revolutionary. 

這兩個行為可以看作是革命。

They will, I expect, to have a  dramatic impact upon Big Tech

我想，他們會對大科技公司產生巨大的影響。

and require dramatic changes  to their business conduct 

並要求其經營行為發生巨大變化

and indeed perhaps even to  their very business models.

甚至可能影響到他們的商業模式。

This is why companies like  Google are making the case 

這也是為什麼像谷歌這樣的公司會提出這樣的理由。

that the laws need to be written in a way that would soften the blow on their operations.

需要以一種能夠減輕對其業務打擊的方式來制定法律。

An example of a concern we might have: today, if you were to look for a restaurant on Google,

我們可能會擔心的一個例子：今天，如果你要在谷歌上尋找一家餐廳。

we can provide you with a map, a link to its opening hours, an ability to book.

我們可以為您提供地圖，其開放時間的鏈接，預訂能力。

Now, if the rules are written in the way that some speculate, it could be that we are no longer

現在，如果規則是按照某些人猜測的方式寫的，那可能我們就不再是。

allowed to combine that information in search results,  which is a really helpful tool

允許在搜索結果中結合這些資訊，這是一個非常有用的工具。

not only for consumers but also for those small businesses.

不僅對消費者，對那些小企業也是如此。

We want to ensure that they can benefit from the best possible tools available.

我們希望確保他們能夠從現有的最佳工具中受益。

Margrethe Vestager, Europe's competition chief, explained in more detail

歐洲的競爭主管Margrethe Vestager詳細解釋道。

what's likely to happen under the new regulation:

新規下可能發生的事情。

Those platforms would have to provide regular reports on the content moderation tools they use,

這些平臺必須定期提供關於他們使用的內容節制工具的報告。

the accuracy, the results of those tools.

這些工具的準確性、結果。

And they'd have to give us better information about the ads that we're seeing,

他們必須給我們更好的資訊 關於我們看到的廣告。

explaining for example who placed a certain ad and why it has been targeted at us.

例如解釋誰投放了某一廣告，以及為什麼它是針對我們的。

This would be very unpopular with the tech firms, which have refused to disclose their algorithms for years.

這將是非常不受歡迎的科技公司，它們多年來一直拒絕公開自己的算法。

It would also become another milestone in EU policymaking, just like the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR,

這也將成為歐盟政策制定的另一個里程碑，就像《一般數據保護條例》或GDPR一樣。

which was introduced in 2018 and gave users more control over their data.

該產品於2018年推出，讓用戶對自己的數據有了更多的控制權。

This regulation that is currently being developed is orders of magnitude strategically more important

目前正在制定的這一條例，在戰略上的重要性是數量級的。

than GDPR for the hearts of the business models and the reason is this:

比GDPR為心的商業模式，原因就在於此。

the legislation seems willing to  prohibit a variety of practises

立法似乎願意禁止各種做法。

which have been the main way these  platforms monetize their investments.

一直是這些平臺貨幣化投資的主要方式。

But the implications of the upcoming rules go beyond the tech giants we're familiar with.

但即將出臺的規則所帶來的影響已經超出了我們熟悉的科技巨頭。

There are also concerns that it would reduce Europe's competitiveness

也有人擔心這會降低歐洲的競爭力。

and ability to nurture homegrown tech giants.

和培育本土科技巨頭的能力。

Of the world's 20 biggest tech firms, only one is based in the EU.

在全球20家最大的科技公司中，只有一家公司總部設在歐盟。

Silicon Valley alone was the birthplace of three out of the five largest,

五大中，硅谷就誕生了三個。

while across the Pacific, China's Alibaba and Tencent have rapidly grown bigger than any of their European competitors.

而在整個太平洋地區，中國的阿里巴巴和騰訊的規模迅速增長，超過了歐洲的任何競爭對手。

So what sort of impact do you expect this legislation to have on European innovation?

那麼，你希望這種立法對歐洲創新產生什麼樣的影響？

There is a risk, it would be foolish to say that there's no trade-offs.

有風險，如果說沒有取捨，那就太傻了。

The next European unicorn could be falling within the scope of this legislation.

下一個歐洲獨角獸可能就屬於這一立法範圍。

Well it's important to get the detail of the rules right to enhance innovation in Europe.

好了，要加強歐洲的創新，把規則的細節做好很重要。

I think one of the most important routes to innovation is the route to scale.

我認為創新最重要的一條路線是規模化路線。

People ask me, you know, why isn't there a European Google, or Facebook, or Twitter, or you know, anything.

人們問我，你知道，為什麼沒有一個歐洲的谷歌，或Facebook，或Twitter，或你知道，任何東西。

And I think having a digital single market with clear rules across all those countries

我認為在所有這些國家建立一個有明確規則的數字單一市場。

can really help people get to scale faster, with less bureaucracy.

可以真正幫助人們更快地實現規模化，減少官僚主義。

So, is there anything that Big Tech can do to avoid the new rules?

那麼，大科技有沒有什麼可以避開新規則的辦法呢？

I think the chances of those  who oppose this legislation 

我想，反對這項立法的人的機會是......。

to actually stop it, to prevent it from being adopted,

實際阻止它，防止它被採用。

are pretty close to zero. It's going to happen.

是相當接近於零。這是要發生的。

These companies have, of course, extraordinary resources,  so they will have their armies

當然，這些公司擁有非凡的資源，所以他們會有自己的軍隊。

descend upon the EU institutions and arguing why this legislation should not be adopted.

降到歐盟機構，並爭論為什麼不應通過這項立法。

That again I think is bound to fail but they might be able to have some influence over specific provisions.

我認為這又是必然失敗的，但他們也許能對具體條款產生一些影響。

It will take some time before  these proposals become law 

這些建議要成為法律還需要一些時間。

but the EU certainly hopes they  will change how Big Tech works.

但歐盟當然希望他們能改變大科技的運作方式。

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for watching.

嗨，大家好。非常感謝大家的觀看。

Do you think Big Tech needs to be regulated more?

你認為大科技是否需要加強監管？

Let us know in the comments section and I will see you soon.

在評論區告訴我們，我們很快就會見面。