Germany Approves Draft Of  Antitrust Bill To Tackle Big Tech

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved draft digital antitrust legislation that will give German authorities more tools to combat market abuse by large tech companies, reported Bloomberg. 

“It’ll help many middle-sized companies, but above all benefit millions of consumers by helping them gauge digital offers better and take decisions without being influenced,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The EU is separately working on similar ways to extend oversight for large Internet platforms, including legislation on so-called “gatekeeper” platforms that may control how smaller businesses can reach customers. Antitrust regulators are also debating how to handle Internet sites that may favor their own services over rivals, a frequent complaint from app developers, online retailers and search services about companies such as Amazon, Apple and Google.

“The big platforms use their exclusive positions to keep competition at arms length,” said Matthias Heider, deputy chairman of the economic committee in the lower house of parliament. “We cannot wait to take action against this market abuse by digital platforms.”