Danish Press Publications Collective Management Organisation
DPCMO
A free and pluralistic press is essential to ensure good journalism and citizens' access to information.
ID: 349761643844-94
Lobbying Activity
Response to Consumer Agenda 2025-2030 and Action Plan on Consumers in the Single Market
5 Aug 2025
Big tech should have a licence to do business in the EU Reactive regulation and reactive enforcement cannot fix the market failures caused by big tech's dominance. Alphabet, Meta, TikTok, OpenAI, Amazon etc. are involved in hundreds of lawsuits and regulatory investigations worldwide. Competition law, consumer and data protection laws, copyright law are being tested. But market failures cannot be repaired by litigation. DPCMO has tried mediation and arbitration with Meta and TikTok. We have tried mediation with OpenAI and Google Gemini. We have tried the Copyright Licence Tribunal against LinkedIn. We have reported Apple to the police. We are awaiting the Danish Minister for Culture in our case against OpenAI. We have pending competition claims against Meta and TikTok. We have complained about Facebook to the DSA supervisory authority, and we have filed complaints about scam ads and harmful content with the Radio and TV Board. Our current tools are not sufficient. Litigation and regulatory enforcement are reactive, not preventive, legal processes are slow. Meta, Google and Amazon spend billions on legal teams that often outlast smaller opponents and regulators. The giants treat legal penalties as the cost of doing business instead of changing their behaviour. Its hard to prove harm, we experience legal fragmentation, and lawsuits cant address public goods (like trustworthy information and digital infrastructure) or externalities (like misinformation and environmental damage). Children and young people are test subjects in big techs profit hunt. In 2025, a new regulatory approach to major technology firms is imperative. We must address the persistent and systemic market failures that have gone uncorrected for too long. Europe should take the lead in establishing a global standard by introducing a licensing framework - akin to those in the financial and broadcasting sectors - that mandates compliance with the public interest. Such licences must be enforceable and revocable in cases of serious or sustained non-compliance. A licensing regime offers a structured, enforceable mechanism to hold technology companies accountable - unlike todays fragmented enforcement landscape, which often relies on reactive measures, protracted litigation, or voluntary compliance. By making continued operation in the market contingent on upholding clearly defined standards in areas such as data protection, algorithmic transparency, and consumer rights, a licence introduces real consequences for systemic abuse or neglect. This model shifts the burden of oversight from consumers and regulators to the companies themselves, requiring them to demonstrate ongoing compliance as a condition of market access. Moreover, the threat of licence suspension or revocation serves as a powerful deterrent against harmful practices, creating stronger incentives for responsible innovation and risk management. In doing so, it provides a more robust and proactive layer of consumer protection than is currently achievable through existing frameworks. Ex-ante regulation can impose pre-emptive compliance requirements, fair competition, data and consumer protection, transparency in algorithmic decision-making. This will prevent harm before it occurs, protect and respect consumers, foster competition, innovation, and ensure that big tech operates in a manner that benefits society and the economy.
Read full responseResponse to European Democracy Shield
21 May 2025
A free press is the best shield for democracy. Therefore, the EU must strengthen a free and diverse press and credible quality journalism. This effort must be cross-functional and involve both the Competitiveness Compass and Democracy Shield initiatives. Better regulation can also ensure the right framework conditions and remove barriers. When we see dominant platforms blocking news and emails, censoring news and the risk of AI manipulation and political influence on direct user AI-generated answers, our regulation needs to reflect this reality, and we need to enable and/or introduce effective enforcement tools. Not only manipulation, dis- and misinformation, but also news blocking during elections and other democratic processes have a major impact on democracy and trust. As big tech dominates our information systems, we are vulnerable. In DPCMO's work with big tech, we find that big tech seems to be above the law, and we have no effective enforcement tools. Free media and trustworthy journalism must be at the centre of increased media and digital literary and critical thinking. Europeans must have easy access to reliable news and news must not be blocked, censored or deprioritised by big tech. To ensure that technological innovation serves the public interest and upholds democratic values, we need clarity and legal certainty. Clear obligations and definitions that cannot be twisted or circumvented. Rules should focus on outcomes, impacts, and behaviours, not specific technologies. Regulation must anticipate technological evolution. Big tech with disproportionate market power must not be able to bypass obligations through technicalities or structural loopholes. Regulations must include strong enforcement tools, transparency requirements, and independent oversight. The core objective of European technology regulation is to protect and respect citizens and European values, promote fairness and innovation, and ensure safety, resilience, and democracy.
Read full responseMeeting with Per Clausen (Member of the European Parliament) and Danske Medier
26 Nov 2024 · Sammenhængskraft, demokrati, tech, medier, innovation og konkurrence
Meeting with Hanna Gedin (Member of the European Parliament)
26 Nov 2024 · Free and Independent Media
Meeting with Werner Stengg (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)
21 Feb 2024 · the press in the digital world: DSA, EMFA, AI Act
Meeting with Margrethe Vestager (Executive Vice-President) and
27 Oct 2021 · Regulation of the tech sector