With the purpose of contributing with the Ministry of Economy’s consultations on the regulation of digital platforms (Consultations No. 1, from the Secretariat of Economic Reform of the Ministry of Economy, published in the National Gazette on January 19, 2024), I provide detailed explanation about the existence of both legal and economic reasons that justify not adopting new legislation, nor changing the legal framework in force to regulate digital platforms in Brazil.
First, I demonstrate that the Brazilian antitrust authorities, notably the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (henceforth “CADE”), already have the necessary legal powers and technical toolkit to address the potential competition concerns that arise in digital markets. Second, I emphasize that adopting an ex ante regulation of digital markets in Brazil in this moment is highly unrecommended, given the risks of stifling innovation and discouraging investments by digital companies to allocate resources towards the Brazilian economy with the aim of delivering superior products and services to consumers – an opposite effect of what antitrust policy pursues.