Facebook down: Outage shows need for more players in tech, EU competition chief Vestager says

Follow us on Social Media

Social sharing

Facebook’s six-hour outage on Monday shows the risks of allowing just a few big players to dominate the tech sector, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday.

The outage prevented the company’s 3.5 billion users from accessing its social media and messaging services including WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, as well as Facebook itself, in what internet outage tracker DownDetector said was the “largest outage we’ve ever seen”.

Facebook employees were also locked out of their offices by the outage, which was triggered by a configuration error in the company’s network that caused it to effectively cut itself off from the rest of the internet.

The incident showed the need for more competition, Vestager said on Twitter.

“We need alternatives and choices in the tech market, and must not rely on a few big players, whoever they are, that’s the aim of (the) DMA,” she tweeted.

The DMA Vestager referenced is the Digital Markets Act, a new piece of EU legislation that she proposed last year.

If adopted, the DMA would target the largest tech companies, which it refers to as “gatekeepers”, and force them to open up their own services like app stores to smaller third parties.

It would also allow users to finalise purchases outside a gatekeeper’s platform, potentially cutting them out of the transaction.

The European Parliament and EU member states are now debating their own proposals and will need to reconcile the three drafts before the tech rules come into force.

Source

Leave your comment on this post

THE ROTTEN FISH: CAN OF WORMS OPENED OF APC & TINUBU'S GOVERNMENT OVER NIGERIA'S ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

WATCH THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND KNOW THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES TO BLAME FOR NIGERIA'S ECONOMIC CHALLENGES, WHILE CITIZENS ENDURE SEVERE HARDSHIPS.

Watch this episode of ISSUES IN THE NEWS on 9News Nigeria featuring Peter Obi's Special Adviser, Dr Katch Ononuju, 9News Nigeria Publisher, Obinna Ejianya and Tinubu Support Group Leader, McHezekiah Eherechi

The economic crisis and hardship in Nigeria are parts of the discussion.


Watch, leave your comments, and share to create more awareness on this issue.


#9NewsNigeria #Nigeria #issuesInTheNews #politics #tinubu THE ROTTEN FISH: CAN OF WORMS OPENED ...
DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR SUBSEQUENT UPDATES
#9newsnigeria #economia #economy #nigeria #government @9newsng
www.9newsng.com

Leave your comment

Click on the link below or Scan the QR Code to join the 9News Nigeria WhatsApp Channel

9News Nigeria Investigative Reports WhatsApp Channel
9News Nigeria Investigative Reports WhatsApp Channel
About 9News Nigeria 13338 Articles
9News Nigeria is Nigeria's favourite news source. For Authentic, Unbiased News on Politics, Business, Sports, Technology, Entertainment and Lifestyles, Health, Nollywood, Crime and Investigations, Family and Relationships, Inspirations .. and much more. For Latest News from Africa and around the world, 9News Nigeria is your best source. WhatsApp +2348115805632 Email: info@9newsng.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/9NewsNG | Twitter/Instagram: @9newsng

Leave a Reply