Saudi Arabia: Opened consultation on Competition Regulations for Digital Content Platforms including

On 3 August 2022, the competition regulations for digital content platforms were opened for public consultation until 11 September 2022. The regulations concern satellite pay-TV platforms, video OTT providers, internet protocol TV, user-generated content platforms, internet radio service providers, audio-on-demand providers, online advertising providers, gaming platforms, and esports participation platforms. The regulations include details on the obligations of "covered platforms". They are considered to be any of the aforementioned service providers that fit certain criteria as decided by the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CITC). Any service provider that has more than 5 million active users a year is required to notify the CITC. The service providers are required to disclose their revenue, the number of business users within the Kingdom, and the number of monthly active users within the Kingdom. The CITC will assess whether the platform has "significant and entrenched market power". The factors that the CITC will evaluate are the size of the platform, the number of users, entry barriers, fixed costs and economies of scale, availability of alternatives, and other relevant characteristics. If a platform is found to be a "covered platform", it is prohibited from using complex and unfavourable contracts to business users and making the use of a service dependent on the sale of another service. Additionally, anti-competitively favouring the platform's services over alternatives and imposing differing conditions on business users without justification is prohibited. Implementation of these regulations will occur 9 months post the publication of the approval by the Council of Ministers.