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The next U.S. president should create a new federal regulatory agency to police the biggest tech companies, a former top economist with the Obama White House said Monday.
“The digital sector is a special case where a pro-competition regulator… would be a welcome addition to the U.S. policy landscape,” Jason Furman, a professor at Harvard University and chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, said during an event at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Furman is helping the UK establish a Digital Markets Unit. Similar regulatory bodies are also being set up in France, Germany and Australia, he noted. The U.S. has to play “catch up,” he said. The agency would develop standards, rules and “code of conducts” that would only apply to the biggest platforms that have “a gateway bottleneck power” for the system, Furman said.
See also: Ready for another Big Tech hearing/earnings doubleheader?
In a letter setting out a task force recommendations for the UK regulator, Furman said the agency should “create and enforce a clear set of rules to limit anticompetitive actions by the most significant digital platforms while also reducing structural barriers that currently hinder effective competition.”
Fears of a Balkanized regulatory environment are misplaced, Furman said in his talk at Peterson — regulatory approaches across the major economies would actually give companies the predictability they need to operate around the world while also protecting consumers. He pointed to the global antitrust rules as an example of how it might work.
At the moment, multinational mergers have to clear antitrust authorities around the world. But because they all use similar rules, firms can be confident that if they get the nod from the U.S. or another antitrust authority, their deals can be completed.
“So if you can clear the U.S., you can clear Europe and Australia,” Furman said.
The idea of a regulator agency might catch on in Washington, where members of Congress are actively discussing what needs to be done about the police the power of Big Tech. Both Republicans and Democrats are unhappy, for different reasons, with online platforms setting their own rules for user-generated content.
The Justice Department charged Alphabet Inc.’s Google GOOGL, -2.58% GOOG, -2.41% with misusing its monopoly power last week, but there is a sense the case might drag on for years. The Federal Trade Commission is expected to levy similar charges against Facebook Inc. FB, -1.87% soon, and there are also reportedly active antitrust investigations into Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +0.23% and Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.65%
See also: After charges against Google, road map to antitrust changes contains many potential routes
Reformers don’t want to wait given how fast the industry moves. A House judiciary subcommittee last month detailed potential new approaches to antitrust moves against the largest tech platforms.
