Germany, seeking to rein in internet giants like Google and Facebook, plans to bolster the powers of its competition watchdog to prevent such companies from becoming monopolies even before they achieve scale, reported Reuters.
On Tuesday, September 4, an initiative was announced that includes blocking big players from taking over smaller rivals. It follows up on a pledge by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition to curb big US internet companies.
“In doing so we must find the right balance between the growth chances of German and European platforms and preventing the abuse of market power.”
A 173-page commissioned by Economy Minister Peter Altmaier calls for the German antitrust regulator to be given powers to act before a company reaches a critical “tipping point” on the way to becoming a monopoly—something that can happen quickly on the internet due to the way it functions as a network.
This could, for example, include cracking down on attempts to prevent “multihoming,” where a platform company requires its business partners to work exclusively with it, but not with any of its competitors.
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