Nation/Union US
Regulation rating (/10) 5
Regulation of Facebook and Google The powerful First Amendment of the US Constitution prevents the government from “abridging the freedom of speech”, and while it was written more than 230 years ago it applies today to the content shared on social media platforms. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act also protects tech platforms from being liable for the content their users create, although amid growing unease over misinformation this looks set to change: the US Justice Department sent draft legislation to Congress to reform the act in September 2020. Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said he supports reforming legal protections for the platforms. Although there is concern that Section 230 reforms could also weaken the position of newspapers. In 2019, the Us Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5bn – the largest penalty ever imposed on a company in the US for “violating consumers’ privacy”. Action has been taken at the state and federal level in the US to challenge the power of the big tech giants, although most of it is in the form of lawsuits.
Nation/Union Italy
Regulation rating (/10) 5
Regulation of Facebook and Google Italy's competition watchdog fined Facebook €5m last month for failing to comply with rules on data transparency. It will be subject to EU reform on the digital market.
Nation/Union Japan
Regulation rating (/10) 5
Regulation of Facebook and Google Japan is tightening competition regulation in the face of digital market dominance by Facebook and Google. A new law will force tech giants to "disclose the terms of contracts with customers and to report to the government about their operations", Reuters has reported. Japan's Fair Trade Commission will also have the power to investigate any merger or acquisition on an anti-monopoly basis. The Japanese government will also revise its personal data protection law to grant individuals the right to request firms suspend use of their data.
Nation/Union EU
Regulation rating (/10) 7
Regulation of Facebook and Google The EU has been steadily moving towards creating a digital single market, bringing in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 to standardise data handling for platforms operating within its 27 member states, and a Copyright Directive in 2019, which among other things limited the amount of news text that platforms could use without breaching copyright. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, proposed by the European Commission in December 2020, will create a “single set of new rules” across the EU that offer “a safer and more open digital space”. The DMA aims to tackle the “negative consequences” of platforms acting as digital “gatekeepers”, such as stifling competition and innovation. Fines for non-compliance could reach up to 10% of a gatekeeping company’s worldwide turnover. The DSA will bring in “new procedures for faster removal of illegal content” online and stronger protections for users’ rights. Non-compliance fines will reach up to 6% of a service provider’s global turnover.
Nation/Union UK
Regulation rating (/10) 7
Regulation of Facebook and Google In April 2020, the UK introduced a 2% levy on the revenue of tech platforms “which derive value from UK users”, including search engines and social media. The UK operates under GDPR data protection laws, overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office. There is currently no regulator for tech platforms, but the UK is set to create its own Digital Markets Unit within its competition watchdog. The unit, expected to come into force in April 2021, will create and enforce a new code “to govern the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate the market, such as Google and Facebook” and ensure fairer competition. Separately, the UK’s proposed Online Harms Bill – a response to misinformation, terrorist and other illicit content being shared online – will create “a new system of accountability and oversight for tech companies” which moves beyond self-regulation. The Government published a white paper in December 2020 setting out its plans. It has said the new regulatory framework will be put forward in legislation “as soon as possible”, but some fear it could be delayed until 2024.
Nation/Union France
Regulation rating (/10) 7
Regulation of Facebook and Google France has already taken action against Google and Facebook. In December 2019 its competition watchdog fined Google €150m, saying the tech giant had “abused its dominant position in the search advertising market…”. In May 2020, France passed a law that forced tech platforms to remove terror or child abuse content within one hour, or 24-hours for other types of illegal content. Failure to comply will result in fines of €1.25m, rising to a maximum of 4% of a company’s global annual turnover. France has also begun collecting a 3% tax on revenue earned in France by digital services with global revenues of €750m. In January 2021, Google signed a deal with a group of French publishers represented by the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Generale which will see the tech giant make payments for use of news content within the framework of the EU’s Copyright Directive.
Nation/Union Germany
Regulation rating (/10) 7
Regulation of Facebook and Google In 2017 Germany brought in the “NetzDG” law, giving social media sites 24-hours to remove disinformation, hate speech and illegal content after it has been flagged, or face fines of up to €50m. The tighter regulation followed concerns over the spread of fake news in the country. Germany’s Federal Office of Justice fined Facebook €2m in 2019 for under-reporting complaints about illegal content on its site under NetzDG transparency obligations. VG Media, a consortium of 200 publishers in Germany, took Google court in 2019 in an attempt to claim copyright fees for the tech giant’s use of its news content since 2013, when an ancillary copyright came into force. The action failed because the European Commission hadn’t been notified of the new regulation. Germany will put the EU’s Copyright Directive into national law by summer 2021, which could force the tech giants to pay for using news content. The move is supported by VG Media.
Nation/Union Australia
Regulation rating (/10) 8
Regulation of Facebook and Google Australia is leading the world in putting pressure on Google and Facebook to pay more for the news content on which their platforms rely. The Australian competition and data watchdog, the ACCC, drafted the world’s first mandatory code of conduct “to address bargaining power imbalances” between its news media and digital platforms last year. The bargaining code bill was put before parliament in December 2020 and is awaiting royal assent. It will initially apply to news content on Facebook’s News Feed and Google Search, with the tech giants forced to negotiate payments to news media for use of their content. Google has threatened to pull its services from Australia if the bill is passed into law.
Nation/Union Canada
Regulation rating (/10) 8
Regulation of Facebook and Google Canada has expressed its support for Australia in the face of threats from the Duopoly. Its minister for Canadian Heritage (equivalent to the UK’s Department for Culture) Steven Guilbeault is also reportedly not a fan of Facebook. News Media Canada, which represents a majority of news organisations in the country, is pushing for an Australian-style model. The government has tabled a Bill for Spring 2021 to address compensation for news publishers from social media firms. A Bill to tackle the sharing of illegal content is expected sooner. Canada has already put forward the Digital Charter Implementation Act 2020, which will bring in new privacy laws for the country, closely aligned to GDPR in Europe, and “steep fines” for violations when it is passed into law, which could be late 2021. Canada’s Finance Department has said it plans to impose a digital tax on companies providing digital services from 2022. The country’s Digital Citizen Initiative also aims to fight disinformation.
Nation/Union Russia
Regulation rating (/10) 9
Regulation of Facebook and Google Google and Facebook are allowed to operate in Russia, but they are facing a crackdown as president Vladimir Putin accuses them of fuelling anti-government protests supporting his political opponent Alexei Navalny. The Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has forced platforms to delete posts calling for demonstrations, following Trump’s Twitter ban. Putin has said monopolistic tech platforms are now "competing with states" for power and influence.
Nation/Union China
Regulation rating (/10) 10
Regulation of Facebook and Google Google and Facebook are both blocked by China’s so-called “Great Firewall”. Citizens must use workarounds to access the services, but many use Chinese-owned alternatives.
Nation/Union Regulation rating (/10) Regulation of Facebook and Google
US5The powerful First Amendment of the US Constitution prevents the government from “abridging the freedom of speech”, and while it was written more than 230 years ago it applies today to the content shared on social media platforms. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act also protects tech platforms from being liable for the content their users create, although amid growing unease over misinformation this looks set to change: the US Justice Department sent draft legislation to Congress to reform the act in September 2020. Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said he supports reforming legal protections for the platforms. Although there is concern that Section 230 reforms could also weaken the position of newspapers. In 2019, the Us Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5bn – the largest penalty ever imposed on a company in the US for “violating consumers’ privacy”. Action has been taken at the state and federal level in the US to challenge the power of the big tech giants, although most of it is in the form of lawsuits.
Italy5Italy's competition watchdog fined Facebook €5m last month for failing to comply with rules on data transparency. It will be subject to EU reform on the digital market.
Japan5Japan is tightening competition regulation in the face of digital market dominance by Facebook and Google. A new law will force tech giants to "disclose the terms of contracts with customers and to report to the government about their operations", Reuters has reported. Japan's Fair Trade Commission will also have the power to investigate any merger or acquisition on an anti-monopoly basis. The Japanese government will also revise its personal data protection law to grant individuals the right to request firms suspend use of their data.
EU7The EU has been steadily moving towards creating a digital single market, bringing in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 to standardise data handling for platforms operating within its 27 member states, and a Copyright Directive in 2019, which among other things limited the amount of news text that platforms could use without breaching copyright. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, proposed by the European Commission in December 2020, will create a “single set of new rules” across the EU that offer “a safer and more open digital space”. The DMA aims to tackle the “negative consequences” of platforms acting as digital “gatekeepers”, such as stifling competition and innovation. Fines for non-compliance could reach up to 10% of a gatekeeping company’s worldwide turnover. The DSA will bring in “new procedures for faster removal of illegal content” online and stronger protections for users’ rights. Non-compliance fines will reach up to 6% of a service provider’s global turnover.
UK7In April 2020, the UK introduced a 2% levy on the revenue of tech platforms “which derive value from UK users”, including search engines and social media. The UK operates under GDPR data protection laws, overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office. There is currently no regulator for tech platforms, but the UK is set to create its own Digital Markets Unit within its competition watchdog. The unit, expected to come into force in April 2021, will create and enforce a new code “to govern the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate the market, such as Google and Facebook” and ensure fairer competition. Separately, the UK’s proposed Online Harms Bill – a response to misinformation, terrorist and other illicit content being shared online – will create “a new system of accountability and oversight for tech companies” which moves beyond self-regulation. The Government published a white paper in December 2020 setting out its plans. It has said the new regulatory framework will be put forward in legislation “as soon as possible”, but some fear it could be delayed until 2024.
France7France has already taken action against Google and Facebook. In December 2019 its competition watchdog fined Google €150m, saying the tech giant had “abused its dominant position in the search advertising market…”. In May 2020, France passed a law that forced tech platforms to remove terror or child abuse content within one hour, or 24-hours for other types of illegal content. Failure to comply will result in fines of €1.25m, rising to a maximum of 4% of a company’s global annual turnover. France has also begun collecting a 3% tax on revenue earned in France by digital services with global revenues of €750m. In January 2021, Google signed a deal with a group of French publishers represented by the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Generale which will see the tech giant make payments for use of news content within the framework of the EU’s Copyright Directive.
Germany7In 2017 Germany brought in the “NetzDG” law, giving social media sites 24-hours to remove disinformation, hate speech and illegal content after it has been flagged, or face fines of up to €50m. The tighter regulation followed concerns over the spread of fake news in the country. Germany’s Federal Office of Justice fined Facebook €2m in 2019 for under-reporting complaints about illegal content on its site under NetzDG transparency obligations. VG Media, a consortium of 200 publishers in Germany, took Google court in 2019 in an attempt to claim copyright fees for the tech giant’s use of its news content since 2013, when an ancillary copyright came into force. The action failed because the European Commission hadn’t been notified of the new regulation. Germany will put the EU’s Copyright Directive into national law by summer 2021, which could force the tech giants to pay for using news content. The move is supported by VG Media.
Australia8Australia is leading the world in putting pressure on Google and Facebook to pay more for the news content on which their platforms rely. The Australian competition and data watchdog, the ACCC, drafted the world’s first mandatory code of conduct “to address bargaining power imbalances” between its news media and digital platforms last year. The bargaining code bill was put before parliament in December 2020 and is awaiting royal assent. It will initially apply to news content on Facebook’s News Feed and Google Search, with the tech giants forced to negotiate payments to news media for use of their content. Google has threatened to pull its services from Australia if the bill is passed into law.
Canada8Canada has expressed its support for Australia in the face of threats from the Duopoly. Its minister for Canadian Heritage (equivalent to the UK’s Department for Culture) Steven Guilbeault is also reportedly not a fan of Facebook. News Media Canada, which represents a majority of news organisations in the country, is pushing for an Australian-style model. The government has tabled a Bill for Spring 2021 to address compensation for news publishers from social media firms. A Bill to tackle the sharing of illegal content is expected sooner. Canada has already put forward the Digital Charter Implementation Act 2020, which will bring in new privacy laws for the country, closely aligned to GDPR in Europe, and “steep fines” for violations when it is passed into law, which could be late 2021. Canada’s Finance Department has said it plans to impose a digital tax on companies providing digital services from 2022. The country’s Digital Citizen Initiative also aims to fight disinformation.
Russia9Google and Facebook are allowed to operate in Russia, but they are facing a crackdown as president Vladimir Putin accuses them of fuelling anti-government protests supporting his political opponent Alexei Navalny. The Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has forced platforms to delete posts calling for demonstrations, following Trump’s Twitter ban. Putin has said monopolistic tech platforms are now "competing with states" for power and influence.
China10Google and Facebook are both blocked by China’s so-called “Great Firewall”. Citizens must use workarounds to access the services, but many use Chinese-owned alternatives.