Should we regulate Big Tech like we regulate big banks?

Momentum is building in many jurisdictions to find a new way to regulate Big Tech and to move away from the self-regulation model. But what could replace it? In an interview with the Financial Times, EU commissioner Thierry Breton "compared the power of the big [tech] platforms with that of the banks before the financial crisis, saying regulators need to take similar steps today to rein them in". He appears to be referring to increased supervision and the imposition of more onerous rules for "systemic" platforms than those imposed on smaller ones. It's not just the EU drawing this comparison, the UK Government is also importing concepts from the financial services sector into its proposals for regulating Big Tech.

As we have noted previously in our publication, 'The UK's proposals to regulate online platforms: An update from the consultation', the focus of the proposed UK online harms regime will be on the systems and processes firms have in place, which has parallels with the approach adopted to regulating the UK financial services sector. The UK Government has also said that it is considering civil liability for senior managers at tech firms, similar to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime that applies in financial services (my colleague Ben Packer has considered this in more detail here).

We await the publication of the UK government's final consultation response and the draft EU legislation to fully understand what this will look like.