Japan’s antitrust bill to target tech giants

The Liberal Democratic Party has sanctioned a bill for regulating tech giants at a joint meeting for its economy, trade, and industry division. The proposed bill from the Japan Fair Trade Commission will be a proactive regulatory measure aiming to prevent anti-competitive actions instead of rectifying them post-occurrence as per Japan’s current antimonopoly law. The objective is to swiftly curb unfavourable practices and enable more rapid regulatory responses. The proposed legislation, if approved, is expected to be operational by late 2025.

Under the proposed legislation, offenders would be subject to fines equivalent to 20% of their relevant Japanese sales, a significant increase from the previous 6% penalty. In addition, repeat offenders could face fines of up to 30%, a strategy intended to discourage companies with substantial annual revenues.

Japan is strengthening its antitrust laws to limit potential monopolies among corporations, similar to the EU’s Digital Market Acts (DMA). Like the EU requiring Apple to allow third-party app stores, Japan’s proposed legislation will also impact tech giants like Apple and Google from limiting third-party app stores and payment systems, thereby encouraging competitive market conditions, which could diversify app offerings and reduce costs for consumers. Thus, the passing of the bill indicates Japan’s commitment to promoting fair competition and customer choice in the digital market.