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LONDON – The expansion of the power of technology companies has become a topic of debate in the race for the presidency of the United States, a subject of debate in India and a major concern of the European Union's regulators. Now, Britain adds its voice to the global reaction.
Big Tech reduces consumer choice and harms innovation, according to a UK government report released on Wednesday. As a result, the government needs to review its antitrust policies.
The 150-page report, commissioned by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, the country's highest-ranking treasury official, said the country needed stricter rules on acquisitions in the sector. technology and enhanced surveillance to ensure that new rivals can not be crushed.
"There is not enough competition today," said Jason Furman, professor of economic policy at Harvard, head of the report group and former economic advisor to President Barack Obama. Addressing this issue, he said, "is one of the most important economic policy issues in the world".
Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and presidential candidate, called for break the biggest technology companies. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota who is also making an offer to the White House, has proposed taxes and antitrust laws against the sector.
EU officials have been particularly aggressive in pushing back the industry, by imposing multi-billion dollar fines on Amazon, Apple and Google for violating antitrust and tax evasion laws, while enforcing strict privacy rules. The European Union is weighing the rules of copyright and the rules to curb the spread of misinformation.
Some European countries have also taken a stand. France has proposed taxes on technology companies, while Germany has passed a law against hate speech online.
In India, the government last year imposed rules against e-commerce activities of companies such as Amazon and Walmart. The country is also weighing on the regulation to block certain Internet content posted on social media and deemed defamatory, an invasion of privacy, hateful or deceptive.
The technology industry has flourished over the last two decades, thanks in part to weak government regulations. Businesses say that this has allowed them to develop useful products for consumers, such as free Internet services and online shopping.
The panel said that this non-interventional approach has benefits for consumers, but that it also had consequences in terms of privacy and lack of competition.
Critics have argued that existing competition laws can not keep pace with the fast pace and rapid growth of the technology sector. At a time when the authorities are making a verdict, the underlying technology has changed and the companies have evolved with even more power.
Last year, the European Commission inflicted Google a record fine of 4.34 billion euros, or about 4.89 billion dollars, for violating the competition law related to its system. Android mobile operation. But the case has taken more than three years to conclude and is still on appeal.
According to the report, over the last 10 years, the five largest technology companies have made more than 400 acquisitions worldwide. None was blocked, and only a small number had conditions for approval.
"Competition policy will have to be updated to face the new challenges posed by the digital economy," says the report.
Furman's panel called for the creation of a "Digital Markets Unit", which would require companies to allow consumers to transfer data from one service to another. Large companies should also make data available to competitors to reduce barriers to entry by requiring them to share information. The report also calls for the development of a code of conduct for leading technology companies, punishable by fines.
The recommendations are part of a broader review of technology industry policies as the country prepares to exit the European Union. The UK authorities are also considering imposing taxes on high-tech companies and making Internet companies responsible for spreading misinformation, hate speech and terrorist content on their platforms.
Any settlement will still have to be approved by Parliament.
In the United States, Warren's regulatory plan would be Forcing tech giants to cancel some acquisitions, including the purchase of Facebook by WhatsApp and Instagram, Amazon's agreement for Whole Foods, and Google's purchase of mapping company Waze. Companies would also be prevented from transferring or sharing personal data with third parties.
Mr. Furman, a Harvard economist and former Obama advisor, said the division of companies was not yet necessary. But he expressed some regret that the White House did not do more to regulate the technology industry during his stay.
"I wish we had addressed some competition issues earlier," he said.
A common argument against the regulation of competition is that new businesses will emerge with the technologies, just as Google and Facebook have outperformed older technologies.
The UK report said logic no longer applies as entry barriers for start-ups are much higher. The largest companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft, are leaders in the most promising emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
"The companies most likely to benefit from it may well be the large existing companies because of the importance of the data for successful use of these tools," the report says.
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