Japan Fair Trade Commission announces that 'Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon will be closely monitored with the United States and the EU'

Former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuyuki Furuya, who became chairman of the Fair Trade Commission on September 16, 2020, enacts antitrust laws against giant IT companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple's so-called GAFA. We have come up with the view that we will actively operate it and promote the prevention of violations under the Antimonopoly Act by investigating problems. Mr. Furuya says he will work closely with US and EU regulators, and reports from overseas media such as Reuters.

Opinion to the Financial Services Agency if there is a problem with regional bank merger and convenience = FTC Chairman Furuya | Reuters
https://jp.reuters.com/article/jp-ftc-idJPKBN2740NI

Japan to join forces with US, Europe in regulating Big Tech firms: antitrust watchdog head | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-ftc-idUSKBN2740DZ

Japan to join the US and Europe in regulating Big Tech over market abuses | VentureBeat
https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/19/japan-to-join-the-us-and-europe-in-regulating-big-tech-over-market-abuses/

Japan joins US and Europe in Apple & big tech antitrust scrutiny efforts | AppleInsider
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/10/19/japan-joins-us-and-europe-in-apple-big-tech-antitrust-scrutiny-efforts

In an interview conducted on October 16, 2020, Mr. Furuya said that he would 'strictly deal with anti-competitive behavior' regarding the market oligopoly by giant IT companies, which is an issue in each country. Said that it has taken measures to 'strengthen pre-regulation' against the progress of market oligopoly.

The EU has repeatedly ruled against GAFA for violating antitrust laws and has often imposed huge penalties . In order to break the monopoly of giant IT companies in October 2020, the Internet such as 'Online search engines should not preferentially display their services' and 'Do not pre-install only their own apps on devices' It is also clear that the new regulation ' Digital Services Act ' regarding the above platform is under consideration.

EU is considering strong regulations on GAFA such as 'Don't pre-install only your own app on your device' --GIGAZINE

Not only the EU but also the United States is investigating GAFA's market monopoly, and in October 2020, a Democratic Party member belonging to the Antitrust Subcommittee said, 'It is necessary to suppress the market monopoly power of huge IT companies.' The report is open to the public.

Democratic-led report on Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple market monopoly released, Republican lawmakers oppose --GIGAZINE

Furuya points out that global coordination is important because big IT companies like GAFA are doing business all over the world. 'We will work closely with US and EU regulators and respond to any movements that impede competition,' he said.

In an interview, Mr. Furuya also mentioned the issue of regional bank reorganization and mobile phone charge reduction that Prime Minister Suga is trying to promote. For regional banks restructuring and also possible to point out the problem to the Financial Services Agency (FSA) if Shojire is a problem from the point of view of convenience narrative , mobile rate reductions problem for the mobile phone market of DoCoMo SoftBank · au major carrier 3 companies for He points out that he is in an oligopolistic state and plans to investigate in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Mobile phone market 'oligopoly of three major companies' to investigate the competitive environment Japan Fair Trade Commission, Kazuyuki Furuya Chairman --Mainichi Shimbun
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20201016/k00/00m/020/234000c