Competition regulator needs teeth to curb big tech, MPs say

Big tech firms should face tougher penalties for abusing their market power, a committee of MPs has said.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has urged the government to publish legislation that could allow firms to be fined up to 10% of global annual income for abuses.

MPs say the draft Digital Markets Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech in May, should be published “without delay”.

Until this legislation is passed, consumers are at risk, they say.

The committee argues that existing fines have been viewed as just “a small business cost” by the big technology businesses.

The government has previously said that existing tools to regulate competition are not suitable to deal with the “entrenched market power held by a small number of digital firms”.

It proposed the creation of a digital markets unit (DMU) within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The new bill would give that unit powers to tackle anti-competitive behaviour by tech giants and protect consumer rights.

The CMA welcomed the report and told the BBC it would “carefully consider and respond to the committee’s recommendations in due course”.

The authority recently required Facebook owner Meta to sell animated-image platform Giphy, shortly after it acquired it.

The ruling was the first time the UK regulator had blocked an acquisition by a tech giant, and was seen as signalling a new determination to scrutinise big digital deals.

Darren Jones, who chairs the BEIS committee, said “The Competition, Consumer and Digital Markets Bill has wide support and should be prioritised, especially given the difficulty the government currently has at passing other laws which are more controversial.

“There are many areas in the economy where stronger competition is required in the interests of consumers, small business and economic growth, and this bill is an essential stepping stone to driving this issue forward.”

But in its evidence to the committee, the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) – which aims to provide a voice for tech startups – told MPs the proposed new regime could threaten the UK’s status as the tech capital of Europe.

They told MPs it focused too much on taking action against the biggest firms and not enough on encouraging start-ups to challenge them.

But the government told the BBC that it recognised the importance of the reforms to address competition issues in digital markets.

“That is why we committed to publishing draft legislation in the Queen’s Speech and will be taking forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows,” it said.