Britain’s CMA to levy tougher competition rules on Google and Facebook

• Facebook and Google accounted for around 80% of the total 14 billion pounds spent on digital advertising in 2019.
• MOW has reportedly accused Google of modifying its Chromium developer tools and Chrome browser to get greater control over advertisers and publishers.

As per reliable sources, British authorities are expected to impose a revised competition regime on American multinational technology giants Google LLC and Facebook Inc. in order to counter their market dominance and curb them from exploiting smaller competitors.

If sources are to be believed, the new code will be imposed by the year end through a dedicated unit within the CMA (Competition Market Authority), a non-ministerial government division of the United Kingdom, which is responsible for preventing anti-competitive activities and strengthening business competition in the country.

It is to be noted that Facebook and Google accounted for around 80% of a total of 14 billion pounds spent on digital advertising in the year 2019. The two companies have allegedly been giving their users greater control over their data as well as the advertisements that are served.

Moreover, the Marketers for an Open Web (MOW), an alliance of publishing and technology firms reportedly accused Google of modifying its Chromium developer tools and Chrome browser to get greater control over advertisers and publishers.

Sources claimed that the code will be administered by the newly constituted Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which will be given the authority to reverse, block and suspend decisions made by well-established technology companies and impose financial penalties for non-compliance. The unit will commence its operations from April 2021 as a division of the CMA.

In other news, French authorities have imposed new digital tax on multinational technology giants including Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC, despite a retaliatory threat from the U.S. regulators. Source confirmed that the newly enforced levy will require the technology companies to pay taxes worth 3% of their earnings from digital advertising, online sales and revenue generated from private data.

 

Source credits: https://in.reuters.com/article/britain-technology-regulations/britain-to-curb-google-and-facebook-with-tougher-competition-rules-idINKBN287049