UK's competition regulator demands tougher action on Google and Facebook

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called on the UK government to create "a new pro-competition regulatory regime" that can control Facebook, Google and other technology companies that are primarily funded by digital advertising. The non-ministerial department has completed a study announced last July and concluded that "existing laws are not suitable for effective regulation." To combat the problem, it's recommending that a new Digital Markets Unit be set up with major oversight and powers. The Unit was first proposed in a report published by the Digital Competition Expert Panel (DCEP) -- a group chaired by Professor Jason Furman, a former chief economist when Barack Obama was president -- in March 2019. The CMA believes it should have a code of conduct that ensures Facebook and Google don't veer into "exploitative or exclusionary practices," or do anything that is likely to reduce public trust and transparency.