New JFTC Dept to Regulate, Investigate Tech Giants; Dept Head Says Innovation in Japan Could be Stifled if Major Firms Left Unchecked

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:45 JST, April 23, 2025

The Japan Fair Trade Commission launched a new department on April 1 that is responsible for regulating and investigating tech giants, including the group known in Japan as “GAFA” — Google, Apple, Facebook (now Meta) and Amazon.

In a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, Masaya Sakuma, who leads the watchdog’s Digital and International Affairs department, shared the JFTC’s policy to deal with such tech giants. The following are excerpts from the interview.

The business models of tech giants are seen as problematic worldwide, and antitrust authorities have been urged to take countermeasures.

The Law on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software, which will regulate companies such as Apple and Google, will be fully implemented by the end of this year, and the new law must be enforced smoothly.

The JFTC established the [Digital and International Affairs] department as it needed to fundamentally reinforce the framework regarding the regulation of the digital sector.

The rules imposed by tech giants to companies that use their platforms include measures to protect user safety and privacy, but some might merely be pretext, with the true aim being to eliminate competition.

Rules that exclude other companies’ services could stifle innovation and growth of Japanese businesses if left unchecked. Through dialogue with tech giants and their business partners, we must carefully assess whether such rules are harmful and take appropriate measures.

Guidelines are currently being drafted to provide specific examples of what constitutes a violation under the new law. Similar regulations were fully implemented last year in the European Union, but unforeseen circumstances have arisen.

Companies other than tech giants can now open app stores. However, these major firms can impose fees on app distributors that use rival companies’ app stores, discouraging distributors from using other firms’ stores.

Guidelines must be used to prevent behavior that undermines the regulations. We refer to precedents in Europe and want the regulations to be not only promoting competition but also giving thorough consideration to the safety and security of consumers.