On Thursday, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill passed the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, clearing Parliament and heading to the King for royal assent. The DMCC establishes a new competition regime for digital markets which targets the market power of a small number of tech firms. The bill empowers the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) with new tools to proactively intervene in markets.

“As recent developments in artificial intelligence and robotics prove, there is no lack of dynamism or innovation in digital markets,” said Chamber of Progress Senior Director of Europe Kayvan Hazemi-Jebelli. “The UK DMCC’s focus on consumer welfare, innovation, and its highly tailored approach to remedies should reduce unintended consequences. But a lot will depend on implementation. To keep the DMCC from hampering the tech economy, enforcers will need a steady hand, an eye on the impact of interventions, and a commitment to engaging with industry stakeholders.”

The enactment of the DMCC follows on a number of enforcement actions from the CMA, including cases on Microsoft and Open AI,  Microsoft / Activision, and Meta / Giphy, which a range of legal minds, economists, and industry leaders have criticized as overreaching.

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Chamber of Progress (progresschamber.org) is a center-left tech industry policy coalition promoting technology’s progressive future.  We work to ensure that all Americans benefit from technological leaps, and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.  

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