The new digital regulator must have tough legal powers to force tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay news organisations fairly for content, the competition watchdog said today. Daniel Gordon, from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), told peers that a planned code of conduct for online platforms was 'necessary' to protect the interests of newspapers, websites and advertisers due to Google and Facebook's online dominance. Facing the Lords' Communications and Digital Committee this afternoon he said that the UK needed a beefed-up version of a code introduced in Australia earlier this year, and could also look at examples from other countries including Germany.