New internet watchdog designed to reign in Big Tech must not be watered down under pressure from online giants, Lords inquiry recommends
- House of Lords inquiry does not want Digital Markets Bill to be watered down
- The bill will aim to establish a regime to tackle dominance of powerful tech firms
A new internet watchdog designed to rein in Big Tech must not be watered down, a Lords inquiry has recommended.
Peers urged ministers not to bow to pressure from online giants by changing the appeals system for rulings made by the Digital Markets Unit.
Doing so would simply ‘undermine’ its fundamental job by slowing it down and encouraging tech firms to take a more ‘adversarial approach’, they warned.
Under a new Digital Markets Bill, the DMU will aim to establish a pro-competition regime to tackle the dominance of a small number of powerful technology firms such as Google and Facebook.
An inquiry by the House of Lords communications and digital committee heard evidence from a range of industry experts, tech giants, ministers, and the Competition and Markets Authority.
And in a letter sent to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch yesterday, it concluded the Bill in its current form ‘strikes the right balance’, allowing it to promote innovation and create a level playing field within digital markets.
An inquiry by the House of Lords communications and digital committee heard evidence from a range of industry experts, tech giants, ministers, and the Competition and Markets Authority
In a letter sent to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch yesterday, it concluded the Bill in its current form ‘strikes the right balance’, allowing it to promote innovation and create a level playing field within digital markets
It urged the Government to resist pressure to weaken it and instead pursue ‘swift passage’ of the Bill amid fears the UK was falling behind the EU in digital regulation. Under the legislation, the DMU will be handed powers to force firms to significantly alter their business models and fine them up to 10 per cent of their global turnover.
Currently, any decision it makes is subject to an appeal under the judicial review process – a quick and cheap form of justice that allows the offending company to question the decision on a point of law.
Ministers, however, have faced concerted lobbying from tech firms to change this to a merits-based system, which will instead allow firms to appeal on whether the decision was right or wrong.
Concerns have been raised that this will simply be used as a ‘delaying tactic’ to stop any changes being implemented, with the process often very expensive and dragging through the courts for years.
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