Japan working on European DMA equivalent

On December 27, 2023, the newspaper Nikkei announced that Japan would present a new regulatory framework in 2024 to stimulate competition in digital services and tools. The bill will draw inspiration from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The European regulation, which will come into effect on March 6, 2024, places certain restrictions on the six tech giants considered gatekeepers to the European digital market. It will regulate the activities of the five Big Tech players (Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft) and the Chinese company Bytedance, TikTok’s publisher.

The Japanese government’s project also exclusively targets the market’s largest players. It will apply to four areas affected by abuses of dominant position: apps (particularly mobile apps), search engines, web browsers and operating systems.

The article then cites some concrete cases. As in the European Union, Japan wishes to authorize and promote third-party mobile app stores, which are currently banned on iOS and limited on Android. The bill would also allow in-app payment options other than the Android and iOS proprietary solutions. Another measure revealed by Nikkei that is also a feature of the DMA: Japan wants to prohibit search engines from giving preferential treatment to products from the same company.