FRENY PATEL The proliferation of the Internet and the critical role of technology players in our daily lives have regulators grappling with how best the digital economy should be regulated against the anti-competitive behaviour of large online platforms. Europe has taken the lead towards ex-ante regulations with the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”), which came into effect a little over a month ago on 2 May 2023. The DMA sets the ground rules on what is acceptable behaviour. The DMA is aimed at reining in ‘Big Tech’ and their alleged abuse of power, but is still a work in progress. Digital platforms, often identified as gatekeepers, have the tendency to adopt a winnertakes-all approach and monetize market data. The idea behind ex-ante regulations is to truncate the time period and intervene before the market is entrenched with one or two players. However, a Singapore-based policy director with a leading multinational digital platform recently voiced concerns and cautioned enforcers in the Asia Pacific region to tailor digital regulations according to local economies, given the far-reaching implementation costs of ex-ante rules and the overarching implications. Unlike the European Commission, most Asian enforcers are still sitting on the fence, deliberating on how digital economies should be regulated and whether ex-ante rules are the solution or even warranted. There is clearly a Europe-Asia great divide on how the digital economy should be regulated. Each inquiry requires more time and by the time authorities complete the investigations, reach a finding, and issue directives, the markets may irreversibly tip in favour of the leaders The debate on the need to relook at antitrust enforcement tools has...