Britain to launch Big Tech watchdog
LONDON — Britain plans to create a new watchdog to police Big Tech companies including Google and Facebook to counter their market dominance and prevent them from exploiting consumers and small businesses.
The U.K. government said Friday that it’s setting up a “Digital Markets Unit” next year to enforce a new code of conduct governing the behavior of tech giants that dominate the online advertising market.
The watchdog, scheduled to launch in April, will oversee a new regulatory regime for tech companies that’s aimed at spurring more competition.
The measures were foreshadowed in findings by former Obama economic adviser Jason Furman, who was commissioned by the U.K. Treasury to carry out a review of the digital economy.
It’s part of a wider push by governments in the U.S. and Europe to constrain the power of Big Tech amid concern about the companies’ outsize influence. The European Union this week unveiled proposals to wrest control of data from tech companies and is set to release details next month of a sweeping overhaul of digital regulations aimed at preventing online gatekeepers from stifling competition.
In the U.S., authorities are pursuing an antitrust case against Google, and lawmakers have proposed breaking up Big Tech companies.
U.K. Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said online platforms bring benefits to society, “but there is growing consensus in the U.K. and abroad that the concentration of power among a small number of tech companies is curtailing growth of the sector, reducing innovation and having negative impacts on the people and businesses that rely on them.”
The government still needs to approve legislation for the Digital Markets Unit and to discuss how it will operate. Google said competition in the ad tech industry has been increasing and noted it gives users tools to manage and control their data.
“We support an approach that benefits people, businesses and society, and we look forward to working constructively with the Digital Markets Unit so that everyone can make the most of the internet,” said Ronan Harris, the company’s vice president for U.K. and Ireland.
Facebook declined to comment.