Ensuring contestability and fairness in digital markets through regulation: a comparative analysis of the EU, UK and US approaches

In a society where individuals increasingly spend time on the internet, large online platforms have become, for many, unavoidable actors. As it is increasingly argued that competition policy alone cannot address all the systemic problems that they create in digital markets where quick reactions are indispensable, there seems to be a consensus across the globe that legislative action must be taken against a specific sub-set of these large online platforms in order to foster contestability and fairness. This contribution aims to analyse how the EU, UK and US legislators intend to do so through regulation. First, the scope of the digital platforms that would be subject to these regulatory initiatives, and the potential discrepancies in this regard, will be clarified. Then, the general approach and options taken in each of these jurisdictions to address this dependence issue will be outlined. Finally, the main discrepancies between these different approaches will be summarized.