Britain announced on Tuesday that it would enact new legislation to limit the influence that large tech corporations like Google, Facebook, and Amazon have to restrict competition in digital markets.
The legislation would also improve consumer protection by making it easier to opt out of online subscriptions and combating bogus reviews, according to the government.
The Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom established a separate Digital Markets Unit two years ago, armed with the knowledge to regulate new markets such as social media.
However, it has lacked the legal “teeth” to back up its mandate.
Once passed by parliament, the bill will correct this by providing the DMU new powers over tech businesses with a global revenue of more than 25 billion pounds ($31.2 billion) or a British turnover of more than 1 billion pounds.
Despite heavy opposition from Google, Apple, and others, the European Union enacted its own rule last year to combat big tech’s dominance.
The CMA will be allowed to customize restrictions for tech corporations that meet the threshold under the proposed British law, preventing them from unfairly disadvantaged smaller businesses and consumers.
According to the government, they could be told to give clients greater options and openness.
It stated that if they violate the guidelines, they might be fined up to 10% of their global turnover.