UK’s competition authority announces measures curb the digital dominance of tech giants

The UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) announced that it will consider a number of measures with the aim to protect consumers against the growing power of technology giants. It intends to investigate how online platforms use customer data to generate advertising revenue, how they affect consumers, and how they could harm competition. The regulator will also probe tech giants for fake online reviews and monitor the conduct of price comparison websites. After the analysis, the CMA is likely to make ‘recommendations to the government for developing an ex-ante regulatory system’, which would require new legislation. It considers, for example, stopping technology giants from sharing user data between their apps and making it tougher for them to acquire smaller rivals. According to the CMA, a new regulatory body may also be needed to oversee digital platforms, including Google and Facebook. The initiative is part of a new wide-ranging review into regulation of the digital market.