Big tech companies have already faced a lot of scrutiny, and the need for supervision of such companies has increased over time. Now, the British competition regulator proposes to develop tailor-made rules to regulate technology giants.
Companies affected by this include Google and Facebook. The Competition and Markets Administration (CMA) stated that a legally binding code of conduct backed by fines could be extended to a fine of 10% of turnover.
It also suggested that strengthened merger rules should be enacted in legislation. It also revealed that the code will be executed by a new digital market department, which will be composed of lawyers, data scientists and other experts.
Although the new department will be established in April, the law may not be promulgated until 2022. It will become part of a broader regulatory framework that will include new rules for harmful online content and data protection.
In addition, the Ministry of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) stated that some of the world’s largest technology companies may have to be more transparent about the services they provide and how they use consumer data.
This development by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) comes a week before the EU is about to outline its own digital services and market management rules.
In addition to regulatory changes, large technology companies are also facing global antitrust scrutiny. Although the United States, China, and India are conducting antitrust investigations against Google or its subsidiaries, it is expected that US state and federal authorities will file antitrust lawsuits against Facebook in the coming days.
