Australia’s competition watchdog is poised to call for far-reaching new regulations on Facebook, Google and other tech giants, which could have global ramifications for how they make money and choose the content people consume.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) recommendations, if confirmed, would be among the strongest yet in a drive to rein in the power of digital behemoths amid a host of worldwide concerns ranging from anti-trust issues to privacy abuse, and their role in spreading disinformation and hateful content.
Following an 18-month inquiry into the power of digital platforms, the commission is due to issue its final report by Sunday.
It is expected to include proposals for sweeping controls over tech companies’ handling of personal data and their use of “opaque” algorithms to rank how they display advertisements, search results and content.
In a 328-page preliminary report issued in December last year, the commission had raised alarm over the “substantial” market power wielded by the likes of Google and Facebook, and notably the “lack of transparency” in their operations.
“We are at a critical point in considering the impact of digital platforms on society,” said the report, initiated by the Australian government at the behest of the country’s main media organizations.
The report focused particular attention on the huge impact Google and Facebook have had on Australia’s news industry, with the number of newspaper and online journalists falling more than 20 percent since 2014 as digital advertising revenues were overwhelmingly captured by the two tech titans.
“While the ACCC recognises their significant benefits to consumers and businesses, there are important questions to be asked about the role the global digital platforms play in the supply of news and journalism in Australia,” it said.
A set of preliminary proposals set out in the report, many of which are expected to figure in the final conclusions, include greater regulation over the handling of personal data, similar to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation introduced last year.
It also called for new penalties for invasion of privacy and greater controls on merger and acquisition activity by the biggest digital firms.
One of its most radical suggestions is the creation of an algorithm review board to monitor the complex formulas used to deliver advertisements, and rank news content and referral services to news media.
The commission said such a regulator was needed to ensure the big digital players do not “favour their own business interests, through their market power and presence across multiple markets.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese