The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is reportedly considering the establishment of a new department to regulate and investigate large IT companies as early as April next year. This move comes in response to the need for stronger oversight and enforcement of the law on promotion of competition for specified smartphone software, which aims to regulate tech giants like Apple and Google. Additionally, the JFTC plans to investigate the current state of affairs in digital fields such as artificial intelligence.
Currently, there are only 14 personnel involved in enforcing this new law. However, the JFTC intends to significantly increase this number to 50 in order to effectively carry out its regulatory responsibilities. The newly proposed department will be led by a “director general for digital and international affairs” and will consist of JFTC officials as well as external personnel including data analysts.
The rise of giant IT companies, collectively known as GAFA (Google, Apple, facebook, Amazon), has raised concerns about their influence on global markets and potential adverse effects resulting from monopolistic practices. These tech giants have been able to evade investigations by antitrust authorities due to their vast resources including teams of lawyers and economists.
To address these challenges, the JFTC aims to establish a core department dedicated specifically to dealing with measures against tech giants while strengthening its enforcement capabilities. The watchdog also plans on enhancing cooperation with overseas antimonopoly authorities in order to effectively counter these powerful IT firms.
In addition to its existing responsibilities under the Antimonopoly Law and Subcontract Law, the JFTC will now also enforce the law on promotion of competition for specified smartphone software which was enacted earlier this year. This new legislation seeks greater regulation over giant IT companies by requiring them to open their app stores up for other companies’ use and prohibiting preferential display of their own services in search results.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of app distributors and website operators will benefit from protection under this new law. Recognizing that a robust structure is necessary for negotiating with tech giants regarding problematic behavior or violations, the JFTC has deemed it essential.
Foreign antitrust authorities have already taken steps towards regulating IT giants more effectively. For instance, since March this year, the European Union has implemented its Digital Markets Act along with a 100-member team responsible for enforcing it. Similarly, Britain plans on increasing personnel involved in operating its own new law aimed at regulating tech giants up from 200.
Compared with these overseas counterparts’ staffing levels dedicated towards similar efforts against big tech firms,the current team size at JFTC seems relatively small at just 14 individuals working on enforcing this new legislation alone.This recognition has prompted calls within Japan’s government growth strategy plan among other measures,to significantly strengthen its structure accordingly