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Japan has become the latest country to enact regulatory laws targeting companies such as Apple Inc. and Google LLC from limiting third-party companies that want to distribute and monetize their own apps on Google and Apple devices.

Per Kyodo News, “The law will prohibit the providers of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android smartphone operating systems, app stores and payment platforms from preventing the sale of apps and services that directly compete with the native platforms’ own.” This is to prevent the platform providers from “gatekeeping” while also forcing more competition between their own apps and others on the platforms.

While Japan’s existing antimonopoly law imposes fines of 6% on revenues gained via anticompetitive practices, the penalties in this new more specific law are 20% on domestic revenues gained on services in breach of this law, increasing to 30% if the problem practices are not discontinued. 

The new law is expected to take effect by the end of 2025, which Kyodo News points out is similar to one of the EU’s recent regulations (presumably the EU’s Digital Markets Act).

Kyodo News also reports that both Apple and Google released statements about their continued engagement with Japanese regulators. 

An earlier article from Kyodo News regarding the regulation being first passed by Japan’s Cabinet described its approval of the regulation as “a move to challenge the duopoly exerted by industry giants Apple Inc. and Google LLC,” and that this regulation shows the Japanese government’s desire to align with the EU in enacting more regulations “of Big Tech firms such as Apple, Google and Amazon.com Inc., which have grown to wield significant influence over digital services around the world.”

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Katie Stephan
Katie Stephan Author
Katie Stephan is the Senior Content Strategist at FastSpring. Besides her extensive marketing experience, she has an MFA in creative nonfiction writing and has served her local communities as a college writing instructor.
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