Britain tries to break Big Tech stranglehold

LONDON • Britain has joined a global pushback against the growing power of U. S. tech giants by setting up an influential watchdog to break their stranglehold on the country’s $250 billion digital sector.

The Digital Markets Unit, which will be part of the Competition and Markets Authority, will aim to ensure the likes of Facebook and Google do not exploit data, engage in “killer” takeovers or exclude smaller competitors.

The regulator will also provide protection to the news publishing industry, which a Lords report Thursday warned is being crippled by the “dysfunctional” online ads market driven by Facebook and Google.

Under the recommendations, it could oversee a compulsory news bargaining code — a model pioneered in Australia and France — that would force platforms to pay publishers for the right to use content.

“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 ... It’s time to address that and unleash a new age of tech growth,” said Oliver Dowden, the digital secretary in Boris Johnson’s government.

The regulator, which will begin work in April, will be backed by a code of conduct to give consumers more control over how their information is used, and more capability for small businesses to promote their products online. Social network users could, for instance, transfer their data, pictures and contacts from Facebook to a new rival.

The Digital Markets Unit could also ensure users are able to opt out of personalized ads, with the threat of financial penalties for failure to follow the rules.

It comes amid mounting scrutiny of the size and power of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon, which have seen their fortunes rise to new heights during the pandemic.

In the U. S., the Department of Justice has hit Google with an antitrust lawsuit, alleging that it maintains a monopoly to preserve its position as the “gatekeeper to the internet.”

In Canada, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has said he hopes to move quickly on new rules to force the tech

tech’s big four raked in big pandemic profits.

giants to compensate media outlets when news articles are shared on their platforms.

An alliance of major Canadian publishers, including National Post owner Postmedia Network, has been pushing the minister to adopt the Australian model, which would allow publishers to bargain collectively against Facebook and Google when negotiating licences to display news content.

The alliance, News Media Canada, is also seeking an online media monitoring agency.

Internet-based ad revenue in Canada grew to $ 8.6 billion in 2019 from $2.2 billion in 2010, of which Google and Facebook accounted for $7.5 billion last year, according to the alliance.

Meanwhile, the European Union will unveil its blockbuster Digital Services Act next month, which will, among other things, seek to open the black box of how Big Tech chooses the content it displays.

Ronan Harris, vice president of Google U. K. and Ireland, said: “Online tools have proved to be a lifeline during the pandemic and they can help create a digital, sustainable and inclusive recovery.

“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.”