Does Canada have the leverage to regulate Big Tech?

Google is a monopolist.

That’s according to a US federal judge who ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets. The Department of Justice (DOJ), which levied the case, just dropped proposed solutions, which include forcing Google to sell off parts of its business, such as Chrome, Android, or Google Play.

That haymaker is in addition to another antitrust trial that just wrapped between the DOJ and Google focused on whether the company has illegally monopolized digital advertising technology.

“We just don’t have the clout to be able to successfully push policy on top of these platforms without cooperation or partnership from other countries.”

Rory Capern
RedBrick COO

These aren’t the only ongoing antitrust cases in Big Tech. The DOJ has one with Apple regarding smartphone monopolies, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued both Amazon and Meta. It goes without saying that if any of these DOJ or SEC cases prevail, they could be responsible for radically altering the face of the internet we’ve come to know over the last 20 years.

And in Canada? Well, in response to the recently enacted Digital Services Tax Act, which imposes a three percent tax on digital services revenue exceeding $20 million CAD, Google has decided to implement a 2.5 percent surcharge for ads displayed in Canada.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSS

Doesn’t quite pack the same regulatory punch, does it?

Today, we talk to Rory Capern, COO of Victoria-based RedBrick, but also the former managing director of Twitter Canada, and the former head of partnerships for Canada at Google. And he has a lot to say about the current state of digital, social media, advertising, antitrust, and our government’s approach to regulating Big Tech compared to everywhere else.

This episode goes to a few interesting places, including the classic antitrust question of ‘what is a market?’ and my classic podcast question of ‘why don’t we do what worked in the 20th century?’ Throughout, Capern is willing to play ball, making pragmatic, good faith arguments that stand apart from some of the things we’ve heard from the Big Tech companies looking to avoid any regulation.

A few disclosures: we recorded this episode right after the second Google antitrust case was wrapping also but just as the DOJ was laying out its plans to break the company up, so I don’t directly put that question to Capern (I do, however, provide alternative solutions). Capern is also obviously pretty close to some of the work in question here, but I think he does a fair job walking the line of being respectful to his old employer and constructively critical of all those involved. One final note: BetaKit became a Twitter media partner back when Capern was running the show there, but we had never connected in person.

So… all that said. What to do about Big Tech? And does Canada have any leverage to do anything at all?

Let’s dig in.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by Shakepay: Canada’s easy way to buy and earn bitcoin.

Shaking your phone = bitcoin in your wallet. With Shakepay, buy and earn bitcoin easily. Start buying with just $1, earn bitcoin by shopping with the Shakepay Card, and get a bitcoin bonus on payday. No transfer fees involved. It’s easy to use, secure, and lightning-fast.

Shakepay is regulated and registered with securities authorities in all Canadian provinces—and it’s licensed as a Money Service Business with FINTRAC.

Visit shakepay.com to join over 1 million Canadians shaking for bitcoin.

The BetaKit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltys & Rob Kenedi. Produced by Jess Schmidt. Feature image courtesy Paweł Czerwiński via Unsplash.