The government announced plans to conduct a survey on the current state of the online digital ad market at the first meeting on digital market competition held Friday.
The meeting, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, was held to discuss regulations on information technology (IT) giants. The government used the opportunity to unveil a plan to conclude discussion on issues such as the protection of personal information and regulations to prevent the market from being dominated by large IT companies before the end of this year. It plans to reflect the outcomes of the discussion in future legislative revisions.
"Various countries are taking measures to address issues concerning the digital market, and Japan would like to take the lead in international discussion in cooperation with other countries," Suga said at the meeting.
Digital ads are displayed on the screens of personal computers, smartphones and other devices when users search for information on the internet, buy items online, or are in other situations.
U.S.-based Google LLC, Facebook, Inc., and other IT giants generate large profits through "targeted advertising," from which they collect a massive amounts of personal data by offering free online search engines and social networking services while placing ads that match individual consumer interests.
Under such circumstances, there is concern for such data to be dominated by those IT giants. So, the government plans to examine the actual conditions within the market.
Other issues to be discussed at the meeting include the creation of guidelines for effective operations of the antimonopoly law regarding the digital ad market and a revision of the personal information protection law.
Relevant ministers, such as the economy, trade and industry minister and the internal affairs and communications minister, attended the meeting as did experts including Kazuyuki Sugimoto, the chairman of the Japan Fair Trade Commission, and University of Tokyo Professor Yutaka Matsuo, who is familiar with artificial intelligence (AI).
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
