Britain’s market watchdog is working on plans that could see Google and other internet giants blocked from gobbling up smaller companies with potential to become global rivals, reported The Daily Mail.
At present, the Competition and Markets Authority rarely intervenes on takeovers by tech titans unless there is strong probability that the deal could damage competition.
It now wants to be able to step in even if there is only a modest chance that competition will be harmed years in the future.
The watchdog, which is lobbying the Government to give it the green light to launch a crackdown, is concerned the tech giants have grown more powerful as people spend more time online during the pandemic.
It has warned that digital giants could take advantage by making more attempts to buy up other tech start-ups.
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