EU to probe popular US sites over data use and search

The European Commission is to take the first step toward tighter European Union regulation of the Internet after coming under pressure from France and Germany to take a tougher line on the likes of Amazon and Google.

Widening its battle against US tech giants after its landmark competition case against Google, the European Commission will launch a separate probe into how online platforms list search results and how they use customer data. It is one of the proposals in a draft plan for a “digital single market” encompassing everything from online shopping to telecoms regulation. The draft will go to the commission for approval soon. The plan could also bring in stricter rules for video-on-demand services such as Netflix and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Skype that have become big rivals to traditional European media and telecoms companies.