New British watchdog poised to curb Big Tech’s grip on media | Technology news

The fight between Australia and Facebook over a new law forcing tech platforms to pay local media highlights the problem.

The new British regulator of tech giants Facebook and Google launches Wednesday with a first mandate to see if a code of conduct could improve the balance of power between platforms and news publishers.

The government created the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) – part of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – to prevent large tech companies from abusing their dominant market position after the competition regulator said the existing rules were not sufficient.

The power and reach of Big Tech has grown faster than the ability of many governments to control them.

UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said he had asked the DMU to consider how a code could govern relationships between platforms and content providers, such as news publishers, to ensure that they were as fair and reasonable as possible.

“Choice and control”

“The digital markets unit has been launched and I have asked it to start by looking at the relationships between platforms and content providers and digital platforms and advertisers,” he said in a statement.

“This will pave the way for the development of new digital services and at lower prices, give consumers more choice and control over their data, and support our information industry, which is vital for freedom of expression and our democratic values. “

[File: Chesnot/Getty Images]

The unit was formed after the CMA concluded last year that Google has significant market power in search and search advertising, and that Facebook has significant market power in social media and display advertising. .

The UK said the unit will coordinate with international partners who are also grappling with technology regulation.

A now-resolved dispute between Facebook and the Australian government in February over payments for local news highlighted the growing problem with Big Tech regulation.

The social media giant has temporarily shut down news content in response to the new legislation, a move condemned by editors and politicians in several countries.

News Corp, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, struck a content delivery deal with Facebook Inc in Australia last month. The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, made News Corp the first major media outlet to strike a deal with Facebook under controversial new laws that allow an Australian government-appointed arbitrator to set fees if companies don’t.

Dowden will host digital and technology ministers in April to discuss the coordination of information sharing and the joining of regulatory and policy approaches, the government said.

The DMU is waiting for government legislation to give it the powers it needs.

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