The UK Competition Authority publishes a paper on the impact of algorithms on competition in digital markets and consumer welfare

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a paper on 19 January on the impact of algorithms on competition in digital markets and consumer welfare. The CMA followed up its paper with a call for evidence from market participants, academics, and industry experts, and with a request for specific examples of relevant industry practices that may give rise to competition or consumer harm that the CMA may investigate further. Chapter I of the UK Competition Act 1998 (CA98) prohibits arrangements between businesses that have as their object or effect the restriction, distortion, or prevention of competition in the United Kingdom, unless they can be shown to give rise to benefits to consumers that outweigh any restrictions of competition. Such anticompetitive arrangements can