The current tension between the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) competition law communities regarding online platforms is high and rising, particularly regarding Google and Facebook.[1]See generally John M. Newman, Antitrust in Zero-Price Markets: Foundations, 164 U. PA. L. REV. 149 (2015) [hereinafter Antitrust in Zero-Price Markets: Foundations].The higher scrutiny seen in the EU has focused on a myriad of issues, ranging from allegations that market power has been leveraged in ways that harm competition, to the undisclosed use of user data.[2]Ryan Browne, Europe’s Privacy Overhaul Has Led to $126 Million in Fines— But Regulators Are Just Getting Started, CNBC (Jan. 19, 2020, 7:02 PM), https://www.cnbc … Continue reading This tension is exacerbated by the economic salience of the “FAANG” (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) firms, several of which are in the European Commission’s crosshairs.[3]Jason Fernando, FAANG Stock, INVESTOPEDIA (Jan. 24, 2020), https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/faang-stocks.asp [https://perma.cc/533V-63DT]. All of the firms, together with Microsoft— an earlier flashpoint of regulatory tension between the U.S. and the EU— are U.S.-based and highly ranked among the world’s most valuable firms [4]Id..
References
| ↑1 | See generally John M. Newman, Antitrust in Zero-Price Markets: Foundations, 164 U. PA. L. REV. 149 (2015) [hereinafter Antitrust in Zero-Price Markets: Foundations]. |
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| ↑2 | Ryan Browne, Europe’s Privacy Overhaul Has Led to $126 Million in Fines— But Regulators Are Just Getting Started, CNBC (Jan. 19, 2020, 7:02 PM), https://www.cnbc .com/2020/01/19/eu-gdpr-privacy-law-led-to-over-100-million-in-fines.html [https://per ma.cc/A7MN-WU2N] (reporting on fines for nonconsensual use of user data); Adam Satariano, Facebook Loses Antitrust Decision in Germany over Data Collection, N.Y. TIMES (June 23, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/technology/facebook-antitrustgermany.html [https://perma.cc/7JXB-VXAY] (reporting that Facebook lost the appeal to a German court’s decision that found it had violated competition law by abusing its “dominance” in user data collection). |
| ↑3 | Jason Fernando, FAANG Stock, INVESTOPEDIA (Jan. 24, 2020), https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/faang-stocks.asp [https://perma.cc/533V-63DT]. |
| ↑4 | Id. |