Artist : Mr. Chau-yih Yu
On 2 March 2022, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) released its initial draft of the White Paper on Competition Policy in the digital economy for public consultation.
On 30 June 2021, the TFTC appointed a special task force to investigate digital platform markets. Further to the TFTC’s April 2021 enquiry on the subject of news media bargaining, the aim of the task force is to monitor actions taken internationally by respective competition authorities against Google, Facebook and other digital platforms ( for further details please see “Taiwan to introduce legislation to rein in big tech“).
The draft white paper explores the following competition issues:
– challenges in adapting conventional approaches to defining relevant markets and assessing market power in the digital economy;
– business practices conducted by platform operators, including self-preferencing, tying, predatory pricing or illegal inducement with low prices, price discrimination, most-favoured-nation clauses, resale price maintenance and restrictions on online sales;
– the interface between data privacy and market competition, news media bargaining conduct, killer acquisitions, and false and misleading online advertising; and
– the legality of algorithm-facilitated collusion under the Fair Trade Act.
The TFTC also plans to have focus-group interviews with interested parties and relevant regulatory agencies, such as the National Communications Commission and the soon-to-be-established Ministry of Digital Development for completion of the final draft before it will be again released for public consultation. The TFTC has not disclosed a possible timeline for the final completion of the official white paper.
