Japan prepares to regulate Big Tech

Japan will join the United States, Australia, and Europe to regulate Big Tech companies due to concerns over market abuse. As expected, the companies under microscope are Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

The chairman of Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Kazuyuki Furuya said Tokyo will join global efforts to regulate digital platform operators. “If the size of any merger or business-tie up is big, we can launch an anti-monopoly investigation into the buyer’s process of acquiring a start-up (like Fitbit),” he told Reuters. “We’re closely watching developments including in Europe.”

Furuya also expressed his concern about the need for global coordination when regulating large technology companies as they have similar business practices across the globe.

“We’ll work closely with our U.S. and European counterparts, and respond if to any moves that hamper competition,” he said.

The European Union is compiling a “hit-list” of companies along with a Digital Services Act that could refrain tech companies from pre-installing apps and force them to share data with their competitors.

This comes two weeks after US House Democrats laid out a 450-page report claiming Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon wield monopolistic business models.