Fresh blows for Google: India, US and EU challenge Big Tech monopoly

The European Union has dealt Alphabet a major blow with the continent’s second-biggest court upholding the EU's record antitrust fine of $4.1 billion against Google on Wednesday. Google was penalised for allegedly putting in place strategic restrictions on Android phone makers to ensure that its own search engine benefited alone.

The EU verdict was almost immediately followed by another one in South Korea, where lawmakers slapped combined fines of $71 million on Alphabet and Meta for alleged privacy violations. Probes showed Google was collecting and studying user data, and tracking their website use.

As Google and other Big Tech are facing increasing pressure worldwide over their stifling monopolistic practices on multiple fronts, India too seems to be gearing up to address the technology firms’ said antitrust and monopolistic behaviour. Cookie seems to be crumbling for Google as it is beginning to lose one battle after another in different parts of the world.

In India, a series of actions in ‘works’ led by CCI and MEITY are also leading towards possible scenarios where unrestricted non-accountability of Big Tech to regulatory authorities and also their said antitrust behaviour in dealing with Indian news publishers are going to be seriously challenged. It may be noted that India has consistently sought to ensure tech bigwigs are not only accountable and responsible to the domestic laws but also not violate the rights of netizens.

A parliamentary committee has also been deliberating on various issues concerning Big Tech monopolies. These efforts come in the backdrop of multiple reversals that Alphabet, the owner of search engine behemoth Google, faced this week in Europe, US and South Korea

As per reports , Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics & IT (MEITY), is spearheading India’s role and response in the global antitrust drive. He has been focusing hard on making social media platforms more transparent in their operations and, crucially, making them comply with India’s rules and regulations in the larger interest of netizens.

Brainstorming over tougher rules, regulating the internet’s misuse via bots and algorithms, chalking out India’s first-ever upcoming quarterly audit report on social media companies’ compliance efforts – Union Minister Chandrasekhar has his hands full as he seeks to make the internet a safer and more equitable place for netizens.

The Competition Committee of India (CCI), the antitrust watchdog under Government of India is also proceeding on the petition against Google, filed by DNPA (Digital News Publishers Association), which is seeking a fair share in the distribution of advertisement revenue earned by Google on its digital platforms for news publishers. These leading media organisations of India under the aegis of DNPA, have come together to make a pitch to call upon Big Tech such as Google to be fair in their relationship with domestic news providers and make revenue-sharing more transparent.

In the US, of course, there has been a torrent of developments in recent days aimed at shaking up Google. A group of 13 influential companies called upon the US Congress to greenlight a proposed bill that can considerably shrink the powers of Google and other tech stalwarts. Separately, the US Department of Justice complained to a federal judge, accusing Google of monopolistic behaviour. If that motion escalates to a trial and Google is held guilty, big telecom companies could lose out on massive earnings. That’s because disclosures showed Google allegedly pays Samsung, Apple, and other telecom giants billions of dollars to ensure the sole domination of its search engine.

Along the lines of the various ongoing actions worldwide on antitrust issues, the White House too has joined the initiative, recently rolling out six principles aimed at reforming Big Tech platforms. One of those principles listed by US President Joe Biden’s administration is to drop the special protection and immunity that social media firms enjoy under Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act (CDA), especially with regard to the platforms’ handling of misinformation.

The White House move to seek to strip social media firms of legal immunity came after the Indian government repeatedly emphasised in recent times that very soon it will bring in a new and more robust data protection law to restore balance in the digital space. India’s IT Ministry aims to replace the existing IT Act with what is being dubbed as the ‘Digital India Act’. It could include regulations meant to democratise the relationship between internet users and influential tech companies.

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