Australia said it would establish the world’s first dedicated office to police Facebook Inc and Google as part of reforms designed to rein in the US technology giants, potentially setting a precedent for global lawmakers.
The move tightens the regulatory screws on the online platforms, which have governments scrambling to address concerns ranging from antitrust issues to the spread of “fake news” and hate speech.
The US$5 billion fine slapped on Facebook in the US this month for privacy breaches showed that regulators are taking such issues extremely seriously, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.
“These companies are among the most powerful and valuable in the world,” Frydenberg told reporters in Sydney after the release of a much-anticipated report on future regulation of the dominant digital platforms. “They need to be held to account and their activities need to be more transparent.”
Canberra would form a special branch of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to scrutinize how the firms used algorithms to match advertisements with viewers, giving them a stronghold on the main income generator of media operators.
The new office was one of 23 recommendations in the commission’s report, including strengthening privacy laws, protections for the news media and a code of conduct requiring regulatory approval to govern how Internet giants profit from users’ content.
The government intends to “lift the veil” on the closely guarded algorithms the firms use to collect and monetize user data and accepted the ACCC’s “overriding conclusion that there is a need for reform,” Frydenberg said.
The proposals would be subject to a 12-week public consultation process before the government acts on the report, he added.
Google and Facebook have opposed tighter regulation, while traditional media owners, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, have backed reform.
News Corp local executive chairman Michael Miller welcomed the “strength of the language and the identification of the problems,” and said that the publisher would work with the government to ensure “real change.”
Facebook and Google said they would engage with the government during the consultation process, but had no comment on the specific recommendations.
The firms had previously rejected the need for tighter regulation and said the commission had underestimated the level of competition for online advertising.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said the regulator had five investigations of the two companies under way, adding: “I believe more will follow.”
He said he was shocked at the amount of personal data the firms have collected, often without users’ knowledge.
Among other recommendations, the ACCC said it wanted privacy laws updated to give people the right to erase personal data stored online, aligning Australia with some elements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
“We cannot leave these issues to be dealt with by commercial entities with substantial reach and market power. It’s really up to government and regulators to get up to date and stay up to date in relation to all these issues,” Sims said.
While the regulator did not recommend breaking up the tech giants, Sims also did not rule it out.
“If it turns out that ... divestiture is a better approach, then that can always be recommended down the track,” he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique