[LegalEDHEC Webinar] Exploitative Abuses in The Age of Dominant Digital Platforms – The German Facebook Case

Anne Witt, Associate Professor at Leiceister University, will be presenting a webinar on "Exploitative Abuses in The Age of Dominant Digital Platforms" with a focus on the German Facebook Case.

The event will be held on Wednesday, 17 June at noon ( Paris Time).

Anne Witt will be joining EDHEC Faculty and LegalEDHEC ( EDHEC Business School) as Professor of Law and researcher in September 2020.

This webinar is part of LegalEDHEC webinar series dedicated to address and impact law transformations at digital age.

PRESENTATION

In a high-profile decision of 16 February 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited Facebook’s data collection policy as an abuse of dominance for infringing its users’ constitutional right to privacy.  Only a few months later, the German court hearing Facebook’s appeal decided to grant Facebook’s request for interim relief because of serious concerns over the legality of the decision.  The case, which is still pending, triggered a remarkable inter-institutional dispute between the key players in German competition law.  This presentation explores the concept of exploitative abuses in the broader context of EU and US competition law.  It argues that the FCO’s decision, while raising many challenging questions, is not as flawed as the interim court order suggests, and should be welcomed as an important opportunity for policy-makers to reconsider and clarify the concept of consumer harm and anticompetitive conduct in the age of Big Tech platforms.

CALENDAR

13.00 Objectives and agenda

13.05 Factual Background

13.10 The Key Legal Issues

13.15 The Federal Cartel Office’s Decision

13.25 The Appeal and Legislative Aftermath

13.35 The Positions of US and EU Competition Law

13.40 Conclusions

13.45 Q&A

14.00 End