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Priority question for written answer P-000397/2021 to the Commission Rule 138 Virginie Joron (ID)

Subject: Abuse of dominant position on social media with regard to the app

On 8 January 2021 the bosses of and Facebook decided to close the accounts of the US President, . The decisions were unprecedented and have triggered a heated debate on freedom of expression1.

When a number of Republican supporters of President Trump opened accounts on the Parler platform, Apple and blocked users from searching for and downloading the Parler app. On 11 January, Amazon also closed its servers to the Parler platform2.

The simultaneous efforts of Google, Apple and Amazon to restrict the activity of Parler, a small social- network competitor, bear the hallmarks of an abuse of a dominant position and a concerted effort to restrict competition in the social media sector.

Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon are all active and enjoy dominant positions on the EU’s internal market. Many consumers in the EU are keen to use alternative networks.

Is the Commission therefore going to launch an investigation into these concerted practices, which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the internal market (Articles 101, 102 and 105 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)?

1 https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2021/01/11/trump-banni-de-twitter-et-facebook-les-reseaux-sociaux- entre-laxisme-et-censure_6065866_3232.html; https://www.euractiv.fr/section/economie/news/no-longer- acceptable-for-platforms-to-take-key-decisions-alone-eu-commission-says/ 2 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-parler-account-profile-fox-news-sean-hannity-1559969

PE679.155v01-00