By Chathushka Perera
London, UK (CWBN)_ The British Government announced that it would be introducing a new regulator to curb the imbalances and monopolies created by large tech companies, such as Facebook and Google (Alphabet Inc.), particularly with regard to consumer choices and user data.
Dubbed the Digital Markets Unit, the regulator would be fielded under the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and would be producing its version of a code of conduct for tech companies, but is only expected to influence companies that possess “strategic market status” and enable digital marketing.
The Guardian reported that the government is yet to inform what would encompass a company with strategic market status, however, according to eMarketer, a digital marketing, media and commerce research company based in New York, USA, the regulator would largely focus on Facebook and Google, which together amounts to two-thirds of the UK’s spending on digital advertising.
The government’s strategy is supplemental to the force gathering in the United States and European Union against the practices of large tech companies.
By the end of the year, it is expected that the EU would produce legislation that would reshape digital atmospheres under extensive areas. This includes provisions that would ensure an open, fair and competitive single market, sustainability, assurance of consumer rights, and ideally ensuring that tech companies would reflect the values upheld by the EU.
While in the US, over the past eleven months, there have been increasingly more Congressional hearings against tech companies such as a Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Twitter, over similar concerns as above. Additionally, even though US President-elect had not campaigned with regard to tech companies, it would not be unexpected to find him aligning with the concerns raised.
