Another interesting piece of news from the past few days is the UK government announcing the setting up of the Digital Markets Unit ('New competition regime for tech giants to give consumers more choice and control over their data, and ensure businesses are fairly treated') within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Unit's main task will be to introduce and enforce 'a new code to govern the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate the market'. Is the UK attempting to follow the example of the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) that has been cracking the whip against the potential abuses of the dominant position on the market of such digital service providers like Facebook (see The Facebook Decision: First Thoughts by Podszun)?
Perhaps, the government's announcement draws attention to the risks associated with the concentration of power in the tech sector, bluntly giving notice to the dominant players on the digital marketplace that they will be under enhanced surveillance in the foreseeable future. They will be expected to follow the new rules for behaviour set out in the code, which will likely require more transparency (as to the use of consumer data?), opt-in options for personalised advertising (the issue that was at play in the German Facebook case), facilitating users' swapping to use any rival platforms.
The DMU is to start their work in April and is supposed to be able to 'suspend, block and reverse decision of tech giants, order them to take certain actions to achieve compliance with the code, and impose financial penalties for non-compliance'. What is of interest to us, of course, is to what extent this new unit will be able to benefit consumer protection in the UK? This is uncertain at the moment, but it seems that any consumer protection benefits may be coincidental rather than intentional here. First, the Guardian reported that the new unit will have oversight only over platforms funded by digital advertising and having 'strategic market status' (Digital Market Unit: what powers will new UK tech regulator have?). This would limit the unit's purview, possibly even only to Facebook's and Google's activities. Second, the DMU will focus on preventing damage to news media... which suggests that the interests of UK news outlets may play out more centrally, over consumers' interests.
A lot will depend on the new code of conduct set by/for the DMU. We will then definitely let our readers know when the new code for the behaviour of these digital platforms is adopted!
