Japan to join the U.S. and Europe in regulating Big Tech over market abuses – VentureBeat

(Reuters) Japan will join forces with the United States and Europe to take on any market abuses by the four Big Tech companies, the new head of its antitrust watchdog said on Monday, a sign Tokyo will join global efforts to regulate digital platform operators.

Kazuyuki Furuya, chair of Japans Fair Trade Commission (FTC), also said Tokyo could open a probe into any merger or business tie-up involving fitness tracker maker Fitbit if the size of such deals are big enough.

If the size of any merger or business-tie up is big, we can launch an anti-monopoly investigation into the buyers process of acquiring a startup (like Fitbit), he told Reuters. Were closely watching developments, including in Europe.

EU antitrust regulators in August launched an investigation into a $2.1 billion deal by Alphabet unit Googles bid to buy Fitbit that aimed to take on Apple and Samsung in the wearable technology market.

Japan is laying the groundwork to regulate platform operators. Among them are the big tech giants dubbed GAFA (Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook) that face various antitrust probes in Western nations.

Multi-national companies like GAFA have similar business practices across the globe, which makes global coordination crucial, Furuya said.

Well work closely with our U.S. and European counterparts and respond to any moves that hamper competition, he said.

This is an area I will push through aggressively, he said, adding that the FTC was ready to open probes if digital platformers abuse their dominant market positions against consumers.

Furuya, who assumed the post in September, also said the FTC would conduct research into Japans mobile phone market to see whether there is any room for improvement to spur competition.

Any such move would help Prime Minister Yoshihide Sugas push to slash Japans mobile phone charges, which he has repeatedly criticized as too high.

Furuya countered the view that helping the government meet its policy priorities could undermine the FTCs position as a body mandated to act independently from political meddling.

If theres a policy priority for the government, theres no doubt the FTC should think about what it can do on that front, Furuya said.

By participating in the governments debate on policy issues, we have been reflecting [on] our thinking in the process. This is something our organization should do.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada. Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Gerry Doyle.)

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Japan to join the U.S. and Europe in regulating Big Tech over market abuses - VentureBeat