Japan Eyes Mandatory Disclosure by Global IT Giants

November 6, 2018

Tokyo-The Japanese government is eyeing compulsory investigations of global information technology giants and mandatory disclosure of transaction information they hold, in a bid to ensure transparency and fairness, it was learned Monday.

In an interim report, a panel of experts jointly set up by the industry and communications ministries and the Japan Fair Trade Commission noted that global IT giants known as "platformers" tend to create monopolies and oligopolies.

The panel had in mind Google Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., collectively known as GAFA.

The European Union has tightened regulations on the companies, with a view to enhancing the protection of personal data.

The Japanese government plans to draw up basic principles for its policy to oversee IT giants by year-end, while watching related moves overseas.

In the report, the panel described transactions involving the platformers as "highly opaque." It called for updating the country's current legal system in line with the rapid growth of the IT sector.

The panel recommended that the government consider carrying out compulsory investigations under the antimonopoly law to understand platformers' business operations and setting up an interagency task force to devise and implement related measures.

The panel also urged the government to study mandating the disclosure of transaction information by platformers and introduce a tougher penalty system for them to prevent misconduct.

The government is poised to accelerate work to draw up related domestic rules. "Platformers are becoming socially indispensable," a senior industry ministry official said. Jiji Press