Tech companies face clampdown in Germany over competition fears

Tech companies face clampdown in Germany over competition fears (FT)

• A draft “digital law” proposed by the German government plans to clampdown on anti-competitive behaviour by digital platforms by strengthening the intervention powers of Germany’s competition watchdog (Federal Cartel Office).

• The bill is part of a wider movement aimed at limiting the economic and social power of tech giants such as Amazon and Google.

• Amongst others, the bill would make it easier for the Federal Cartel Office to determine whether companies are dominating a particular market and subsequently intervene.

Analysis and Comments

• Other notable parts of bill include

1. banning platforms from impeding “data portability”, i.e. creating barriers to switching by making it difficult to transfer personal data collected by digital companies, and
2. the notion that a platform can be found to have engaged in “abusive” behaviour if it does not give other companies access to the data it has collected on them.

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