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IIPP launches Big Tech disclosures recommendations

13 December 2021

Following a year-long investigation, 果冻影院鈥檚 IIPP launches financial and operating disclosure recommendations for Big Tech companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook (Meta Platforms) and Microsoft.

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A鈥痭ew聽Omidyar funded聽report鈥痓y聽果冻影院鈥檚 Institute for Innovation and Public聽Purpose鈥 recommends聽enhanced聽10-K聽reporting requirements聽for聽the largest global technology companies, helping聽level the聽playing field for regulators, public investors, and potential competitors聽across the world.聽聽聽

Antitrust investigations聽have been hobbled by a lack of聽detailed聽disclosures聽by聽Big Tech聽on their聽operating聽activities聽in聽the annual public 10-K reports which they file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 鈥 the primary financial markets regulator.聽As a result, the聽public聽relies聽on whistle-blowers and聽court cases聽to piece together聽information on Big Tech鈥檚聽increasingly diversified platform聽business model.聽

The report聽shows聽how present 10-K disclosure rules help聽the聽Big Tech聽companies聽conceal market power, increase profit margins, and expand platform dominance.聽

Report findings

  • Alphabet has at least nine products, each with more than a billion active monthly users and dominant global market shares, but a few 10-K disclosure requirements since they are provided 'free' to the consumer.
  • To extend its lead in cloud computing, Amazon may have intentionally withheld disclosing Amazon Web Services' (AWS) stand-alone product financials from its public 10-K report for longer than permitted by segment disclosure rules.
  • Apple聽relied on segment disclosure rules in its trial against Epic Games to claim that the profit margin of its聽App Store聽did not exist, potentially withholding a key piece of damning evidence on its anti-competitive conduct.聽

To prevent such abuses of market power and disclosure manipulation,听the report聽advances聽mandatory public 10-K reporting聽on聽platform聽user聽operating metrics聽and enhanced聽disaggregation of company financials by product聽segment:聽

  • Mandatory 10-K reporting of user operating metrics for products with a minimum of monthly active end users and business users (platform 'gatekeeper' provisions).
  • Detailed stand-alone segment financials in the 10-K report on any product with $5 billion or more in annual revenues or profits/losses.
  • Establishing a 鈥榯ech鈥 specific SEC disclosures framework focused on digital platforms, in-line with the growing ubiquity and market dominance of the digital platform business model.

Prof.聽Mariana Mazzucato,听Director聽of聽果冻影院鈥檚 鈥Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP),听and one of the聽paper鈥檚 authors highlights:鈥

"In the same way that the battle against climate change requires carbon reporting, making digital platforms more functional and less extractive requires聽a new type of reporting which competition policy makers can use to steer platforms towards value creation rather than value extraction.鈥

Notes Tim O鈥橰eilly, Silicon Valley聽Entrepreneur and co-author of the report: 聽

"Understanding how Big Tech companies indirectly monetize their users is the starting point for better regulation. Standard disclosure rules based solely on revenue and profit completely miss the way that some of the largest and most influential companies in the world use free products to dominate markets and extract extraordinary profits. 聽

Lead author and IIPP Research Associate, Ilan聽Strauss also explains:聽

"Given how large and diversified these digital platform companies have become, regulators聽require聽modernized聽10-K disclosures to understand how exactly Big Tech make their money.聽We need updated 10-K data filings which聽report聽key company financials disaggregated by major product聽line,听and聽provide聽operating metrics on monthly active users and other relevant 鈥榤onetizable鈥 assets."

This聽report is a collaboration between聽IIPP聽economists Ilan Strauss, Mariana Mazzucato,听Josh Ryan-Collins and Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Big Tech reformer聽, supported by a聽grant from the聽.

For further information or queries, please contact聽Dr.聽Ilan Strauss.

Further information: