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Apple and Google's Accused for Mobile Browser Monopoly Activities

The domination of Apple and Google in web devices and cloud gaming will be examined, according to the UK's authorities.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced on Tuesday that it is shifting forward on a market investigation it first suggested in June of how the companies regulate internet browsers for mobile devices and concerns that Apple restricts cloud gaming on its devices after receiving help in a public consultation.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found from market research conducted last year that they controlled the majority of mobile operating systems, app marketplaces, and web browsers.

If the 18-month study indicates an adverse impact on competition, the CMA may enforce modifications. However, the allegations are rejected by both businesses.

The authority announced on Tuesday that it is starting the investigation in part since the U.K. has put off giving its competition regulator new authority over digital markets, which is similar to what was recently passed in the European Union and which it claimed could help resolve those problems.

According to remarks released on Tuesday as part of the CMA's public consultation on its inquiry, some major IT rivals backed the investigation against Apple and Google. If nothing is done, Microsoft Corp. warned that Apple and Google's grip over its mobile ecosystems might pose growing challenges to the competition.






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Pegasus: Spyware Attacks Targets Journalists and Activists

 

Phones of at least two journalists and a human life defender have been hacked and accessed with the Pegasus spyware, between 2019 and 2021 during the term of current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, despite the government guaranteeing that it would no longer be using the spyware technology.
 
The findings were made at Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog group based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. It was detected that the spyware in fact belonged to Israel’s NSO Group. Reportedly, Pegasus broke into victims’ phones, providing the actors access to their devices, which were then traded with the government and law enforcement. 
 
President Lopez, in a statement made in 2021 said there was “no longer any relation” with Pegasus.  In addition, Mexico’s financial crime chief stated that the administration had not signed contracts with companies that procured the spyware.
 
“This new report definitively shows that Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador can no longer hide behind blaming his predecessor for widespread use of Pegasus in Mexico [...] Mexican authorities must immediately and transparently investigate the use of Pegasus and other spyware to target journalists during his administration, as well as push for more regulations to end the use of this technology against the press once and for all,” stated CPJ’S Mexico representative, Jan-Albert Hootsen.
 
The President’s statement promising that the country would not use the spyware was followed by a dozen media organizations revealing that the phone numbers of at least 50 people linked to the Mexican president were leaked. These people, popularly known as Amlo, included his wife, children, and doctor, with their leaked database at the heart of the Pegasus Project, an investigation into NSO.
 
The phone of an anonymous journalist of an online outlet Animal Politico was infected by the spyware in 2021, Journalist Ricardo Raphael, a columnist at news magazine Proceso and newspaper Milenio Diario who was previously infected in 2016 and 2017, was attacked with Pegasus in October, and December 2019 and December 2020, at least three times. 

While Citizen Lab reported that the recent attacks differ in numerous ways from the previous ones, including the use of zero-click attacks instead of malicious e-mails and messages with an intention of tricking the targets into clicking on links, triggering the infections. 
 
In regards to the recent attacks, Citizen Lab stated, “These latest cases, which come years after the first revelations of problematic Pegasus targeting in Mexico, illustrate the abuse potential of mercenary spyware in a context of flawed public accountability and transparency. Even in the face of global scrutiny, domestic outcry, and a new administration that pledged to never use spyware, the targeting of journalists and human rights defenders with Pegasus spyware continued in Mexico.”
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Facebook Under Investigation by EU and UK Competition Watchdogs

 

Competition authorities in the United Kingdom and Europe are looking into Facebook's use of advertising data to obtain an unfair edge over competitors. 

The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating whether it exploits data for its own purposes, such as Facebook Marketplace. The European Commission is investigating whether Facebook broke EU regulations by collecting data from advertisers in order to compete with them in providing classified advertisements. 

Facebook stated that it will fully cooperate and show that both the UK and EU inquiries are "without merit." 

Facebook obtains data through its digital advertising service and its single sign-on option, according to the CMA. This allows consumers to use their Facebook login credentials to sign in to other websites, services, and apps. 

The watchdog is investigating whether Facebook has been improperly using data to compete with other businesses through Facebook Marketplace, which allows businesses and users to post classified ads to sell products, as well as Facebook Dating, which was launched in Europe last year. 

The European Commission has launched a formal antitrust investigation "to assess whether Facebook violated EU competition rules by using advertising data gathered in particular from advertisers in order to compete with them in markets where Facebook is active, such as classified ads." 

"The formal investigation will also assess whether Facebook, in breach of EU competition rules, ties its online classified advertisements service "Facebook Marketplace" to its social network," it stated. 

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief stated, “In today’s digital economy, data should not be used in ways that distort competition.” 

Facebook said its "Marketplace and dating offer people more choices, both products operate in a highly competitive environment with many large incumbents". 

The CMA and the European Commission said they will work closely with each other as their "independent investigations develop". 

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, added: "We intend to thoroughly investigate Facebook's use of data to assess whether its business practices are giving it an unfair advantage in the online dating and classified ad sectors. Any such advantage can make it harder for competing firms to succeed, including new and smaller businesses, and may reduce customer choice." 

The launching of European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's first competition inquiry into the world's largest social network is the latest battle with US digital powerhouses.
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