Britain said on Tuesday it would introduce a new law to curb the power big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon can wield to stifle competition in digital markets.
The legislation will also strengthen consumer protections by making it easier to unsubscribe from online subscriptions and by making it easier to crack down on fake reviews, the government said.
Britain’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), set up a dedicated Digital Markets Unit two years ago, armed with the expertise to regulate new markets such as social media.
But it lacked the legal “teeth” to back up its mission.
The bill, once passed by parliament, will rectify that by giving the DMU new powers over technology companies with a global turnover of more than £25 billion ($31.2 billion) or a UK turnover of more than £1 billion.
The European Union passed its own law last year to tackle the dominance of big tech, despite fierce opposition from Google, Apple and others.
Under the planned UK law, the CMA will be able to tailor rules for tech companies that meet the threshold to avoid unfairly penalizing smaller businesses and consumers.
For example, they could be told to offer customers more choice and transparency, the government said.
If they break the rules, they can be fined up to 10% of global turnover.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said the bill has the potential to become a “watershed moment” in protecting consumers and making digital markets work for the UK economy.
“Digital markets offer tremendous benefits, but only if competition gives companies of all sizes the opportunity to succeed,” she said. “This bill is a legal framework fit for the digital age.”
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
