Abstract
Late in the day, Governments & regulators are taking legal action in the US, Europe and China to prohibit large digital platforms from leveraging their dominance into downstream markets by unfair tactics and strategies. The authors will examine leading enforcement activities in the US, EU and China to consider whether enforcement agencies are taking similar approaches to constraining market dominance; what new doctrines are being developing to achieve this; and whether antitrust regulators have the right tools available in the fight to control Big Tech’s market dominance. The US Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act (2021) focusing on exclusionary conduct will be examined. Recent enforcement efforts, e.g., the US Justice Department’s (sometimes with other US States) 2020 complaints against Apple (imposing excessive pricing on app developers); and against Google and Facebook (vis exclusionary practices in online advertising) will be considered. The 2021 FTC complaint against Facebook’s buy-or-bury scheme and the question of whether US antitrust strategy is coherent or piecemeal will be considered. EU Commission investigations against Apple & Facebook’s (2020) “gatekeeper” roles; Amazon’s “dual purpose role” (2020); and the €2.8 billion (USD $2.4bn) fine imposed on Google’s online shopping dominance will be considered. Whether existing EU enforcement tools are effective, and the impact of such enforcement decisions on digital players online commerce strategies, will be discussed. SAMR's (China’s antitrust regulator) new 2021 digital antitrust rules will be discussed to see if they reflect a new approach to asserting antitrust jurisdiction over digital platforms. SAMR fining of Alibaba’s Tmall.com digital platform (2021) for exclusionary practices and other major investigations currently underway will be considered. The paper will conclude by considering whether East and West have opened a common front against regulating Big Tech.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Jul 2022 |
| Event | The Law and Society Association Annual Meeting 2022: Rage, Reckoning, & Remedy - Lisbon, Portugal Duration: 13 Jul 2022 → 16 Jul 2022 https://www.lawandsociety.org/2021/08/05/lsa2022-theme-announced-rage-reckoning-remedy/ |
Conference
| Conference | The Law and Society Association Annual Meeting 2022 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | LSA 2022 |
| Country/Territory | Portugal |
| City | Lisbon |
| Period | 13/07/22 → 16/07/22 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- market manipulation
- anti-competitive practices
- digital platforms
- regulations