Photo/Illutration The Fair Trade Commission in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Japan Fair Trade Commission plans to substantially increase the number of staff engaged in regulating giant information technology companies by more than three times in April next year.

The increased staff will be responsible for enforcing the smartphone software competition promotion law, which was enacted in June.

They will also conduct surveys on artificial intelligence.

A new director-level post in the digital field will also be created to strengthen the organization to oversee Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, an acronym for GAFA, which has a powerful influence globally.

The FTC has had 14 staff members in charge of this area so far. But under the plan, it will add 35 new staffers.

When part-time data analysts and other digital specialists are added, the total number of staff will increase to 60.

New positions such as chief counselor for digital and international affairs and counselor in charge of the law will also be created.

This will be included in the fiscal 2025 request for personnel structure and capacity.

The law prohibits giant IT companies from preventing new entrants to app stores or giving priority to their services in search results.

Hundreds of thousands of domestic businesses are affected by the law, and there have been many calls for the FTC to strengthen its system to crack down on the globally powerful IT giants.

Authorities in other countries are also strengthening their personnel structures in response to similar regulatory initiatives.

In the European Union, where the Digital Markets Act became fully operational in March this year, about 100 people, including lawyers, economists and other experts, are working to implement the law.

In Britain as well, the number of staff in charge of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which was enacted in May this year, will be increased to 200.

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