Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren recently called for the break-up of the tech giants if she wins office in 2020.  She said that numerous online marketplaces have become nothing more than platform utilities that should be forbidden from competing with those companies that use their platforms.  Any company with revenues above $25 billion would be in her crosshairs, with fines of up to 5% payable for breaking her rules.

Of course, she’s not the only politician with plans to rein in the tech giants, with the UK House of Lords recently calling for a new regulatory framework to make the tech giants more accountable.  The committee note that at the moment, several UK regulators have a stake in the digital world, which results in a fragmented and incomplete regulatory environment.

As such, they recommend a new Digital Authority to inform regulation of the digital world.  They believe this regulator should aim to provide the public, government and parliament with the latest information, with a direct reporting line to both houses of parliament.

10 principles for regulation

The committee propose 10 clear principles by which the internet and digital companies should be regulated:

1. Parity: there should be the same level of protection online as offline
2. Accountability: processes must be in place so that individuals and organisations are held to account for their actions and policies
3. Transparency: powerful businesses and organisations operating in the digital world must be open to scrutiny
4. Openness: the internet must remain open to innovation and competition
5. Privacy: measures should be in place to protect the privacy of individuals
6. Ethical design: services must act in the interests of users and society
7. Recognition of childhood: the most vulnerable users of the internet should be protected
8. Respect for human rights and equality: the freedoms of expression and information online should be protected
9. Education and awareness-raising: people should be able to navigate the digital world safely
10. Democratic accountability, proportionality and an evidence-based

These then feed into a number of clear recommendations that the committee believe should be enacted as soon as possible.

Online harms and a duty of care

• A duty of care should be imposed on online services which host and curate content which can openly be uploaded and accessed by the public. Given the urgent need to address online harms, Ofcom’s remit should expand to include responsibility for enforcing the duty of care.
• Online platforms should make community standards clearer through a new classification framework akin to that of the British Board of Film Classification. Major platforms should invest in more effective moderation systems to uphold their community standards.

Ethical technology

• Users should have greater control over the collection of personal data. Maximum privacy and safety settings should be the default.
• Data controllers and data processors should be required to publish an annual data transparency statement detailing which forms of behavioural data they generate or purchase from third parties, how they are stored, for how long, and how they are used and transferred.
• The Government should empower the Information Commissioner’s Office to conduct impact-based audits where risks associated with using algorithms are greatest. Businesses should be required to explain how they use personal data and what their algorithms do.

Market concentration

• The modern internet is characterised by the concentration of market power in a small number of companies which operate online platforms. Greater use of data portability might help, but this will require more interoperability.
• The Government should consider creating a public-interest test for data-driven mergers and acquisitions.
• Regulation should recognise the inherent power of intermediaries.

“Self-regulation by online platforms is clearly failing and the current regulatory framework is out of date. The evidence we heard made a compelling and urgent case for a new approach to regulation. Without intervention, the largest tech companies are likely to gain ever more control of technologies which extract personal data and make decisions affecting people’s lives. Our proposals will ensure that rights are protected online as they are offline while keeping the internet open to innovation and creativity, with a new culture of ethical behaviour embedded in the design of service,” they explain.