Republic of Korea: Google fined $176.64 million for abuse of dominance in the Android OS market

On 14 August 2021, the Korean Fair Trade Commission issued a fine of 207 billion won ($176.64 million) to Google for its abuse of power in the Android operating system market. The KFTC alleges Google of restricting market competition through its anti-fragmentation agreements with smartphone producers, which restrict the customization of Android OS by prohibiting the installation of modified versions ("forks"). Along with the fine, Google is banned from imposing smartphone developers to sign such agreements and must make changes to the existing version, to enable customization.