UK government sets out plans to rein in Big Tech

Image source, Getty Images

The government said that large tech companies such as Facebook could face huge fines if they don't comply with the new rules.

The Digital Markets Unit will have the power to curb predatory practices of some firms.

If a company fails to comply, they will be fined up to 10% of their global turnover.

The rules aim to give users more control over their data.

Several of the big tech firms, including Apple, have not responded to the BBC's requests.

Tech firms could be fined 5% of their daily global turnover for each day an offence continues, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

It could be tens of billions of US dollars for companies like Apple.

The government said that senior managers will face civil penalties if they fail to engage properly with requests for information.

The government has said the necessary legislation will be introduced in due course, but it is not clear when exactly the changes will come into force.

Chris Philp said the government wanted to level the playing field in the technology industry, in which a few American companies have been accused of abusing their market dominance.

The dominance of a few tech giants is crowding out competition.

The DMU will look to give people more control over how their data is used by tech firms, as well as trying to hold Big Tech to account.

It will make it easier for people to switch between phone operating systems without losing data and messages.

Critics say closed systems and walled gardens lock consumers into using products from a specific company.

The government said that the search engine will be looked at by the regulators.

It wants news publishers to be paid fairly for their content and will give the regulator power to resolve conflicts.

The move was made in response to the tension between Meta and news publishers. Big Tech companies are posting record profits while many local and national news organizations struggle to survive, according to the argument.

The relationship between Meta and Google is symbiotic.

When a proposed law in Australia looking to level the playing field resulted in Facebook temporarily blocking Australian news organizations - before an agreement was reached, the situation went from bad to worse.

The UK government said its new rules could increase bargaining power.

The authorities have been concerned about big tech and competition for a long time.

There is no question that a few giants dominate the market and make a lot of money.

They don't want to share their captive market. It's a commonly used verb to say "toworldcat toworldcat toworldcat." Most of the internet searches are done on the search engine. Many people are wondering if one company should have a dominant position over the internet.

It leaves businesses with little choice. Do you want to advertise to people looking for football boots? The choice would be obvious. Critics argue that the monopoly means the company can charge what it likes and that is bad for the economy.

10% global turnover and an extra 5% per day will be added to the fines for firms who don't allow fair competition. Even for companies worth trillions of dollars, that is mega money. It is enough to get their attention.

The plans include a move to give firms like Meta and Apple strategic market status, which will mean they will have to report takeovers before they complete to the Competition Markets Authority for potential investigation.

Big Tech has been criticized for buying up competition as part of a strategy.

Critics say that businesses are bought up before they have the chance to get too big and threaten the monopoly position of these companies.

The government has said it will introduce legislation to put the regulators on a statutory footing, despite rumors that the DMU would not be given a legal footing.

The group Which? said that the Digital Markets Unit needs to be given proper power for the sake of UK consumers and businesses.