EU urges US to draft joint rules for tech giants

The European Union on Tuesday called for a common rule book to rein in the power of big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter and combat the spread of fake news.

In a speech to the Davos World Economic Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the storming of the US Capitol was "beyond my imagination" and served as a remind of the "dangers that social media poses to our democracy".

Von der Leyen has called on US President Joe Biden to join the 27-nation bloc’s efforts to better regulate tech platforms.

She added there needs to be a "framework" for "far-reaching decisions" such as Twitter's move to cut off former president Donald Trump's account.

During the address, von der Leyen also urged pharmaceutical companies "honour their obligations" on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, saying the EU had invested billions in their development "for the common good".

The bloc already lashed out Monday at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, accusing it of failing to guarantee the delivery of coronavirus vaccines without a valid explanation.

It also had expressed displeasure over vaccine delivery delays from Pfizer-BioNTech last week.