The U.K. government is assessing whether additional legislation against Big Tech firms could have an impact on the country’s growth and a direct consequence of that is that some legislative reforms could be dropped from the Queen´s speech.
The Queen´s speech formally opens a new Parliamentary session, and it includes the legislation that will be debated in Parliament. This year, it will take place on May 10.
U.K. ministers may be considering ditching plans to empower a new technology regulator, according to the Financial Times, which could limit the existing regulators’ power to curb the dominance of Big Tech firms like Google or Facebook. David Canzini, the prime minister´s deputy chief of staff, told colleagues to scale back their legislative demands. “He´s told us that Conservative governments don´t legislate their way to prosperity and growth,” said one Conservative official. The U.K.´s decision comes just a few days after China halted its plan to pass more regulatory reforms to tame Big Tech due to a slower than expected economic growth, acknowledging that recent reforms may have an impact in the private sector.
Read More: China’s Tech Regulatory Spree May Have Unintended Consequences
The new government’s legislative program may not include the long-awaited bill to create the digital markets unit (DMU) that is currently based within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The DMU was set up in 2020 as a response to the growing concerns in digital markets. The unit, which currently has around 60 staff members, is formed by specialists in big data, privacy, competition law and behavioral economics. The DMU sits for the moment within the CMA but it was originally expected to be an independent regulator. Under the original plans, the DMU would be given powers to devise codes of conduct for tech companies and it could also fine those that wouldn’t comply with up to 10% of their annual turnover.
The DMU has been operating “in shadow form” since last year, but unless it receives formal validation and powers via legislation, its only role would be to assist the CMA in its ongoing investigations and market studies.
For some lawmakers, if the government finally decides not to include this bill in the Queen´s speech, it would “damage the credibility of the whole enterprise [DMU]”. “It would be a hammer blow to the capability of the UK to regulate these sectors,” said Julian Knight, Tory chair of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the DMU will be terminated. It may continue operating in the “shadow form” until a bill is passed in the next legislative session.
But Big Tech firms are not off the hook, despite this small win. The government’s decision to drop this bill may also be a strategic one to throw its weight over the Online Safety Bill, which will likely be included in the Queen´s speech. The Online Safety Bill will significantly increase the responsibility that Big Tech firms will have over the content posted in their platforms. Google, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms will need to remove illegal and harmful content from their sites as soon as possible or they will face fines and other sanctions. The current government has been much more involved in the drafting of this bill, and it is expected to face a fierce debate in Parliament to pass the bill, but it is committed to getting the new law approved, possibly, by the end of the year.
