Large digital platforms could soon face new regulations to curb their dominance, with the release of a discussion paper by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Calling for feedback on the Commission’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry Discussion Paper for Interim Report No. 5: Updating competition and consumer law for digital platform services, leaving Chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims said the Paper outlined options for legislative reform to address concerns about the dominance of digital platforms, including social media, search, app marketplaces, general online retail marketplaces and ad tech.
“The upcoming fifth Report will mark the half-way point of the Digital Platform Services Inquiry,” Mr Sims said.
“Now is the time to consider whether further reforms are needed to supplement the important tools in Australia’s competition and consumer law to maintain a vibrant digital economy that drives innovation and enhances productivity,” he said.
“These platforms hold powerful positions in the economy and society and can often dictate terms to businesses that use their services.”
Mr Sims said that this in turn could harm consumers and the small businesses that relied on them, including through higher prices, greater use of personal data, reduced choice, less innovation or lower quality products.
He said the Discussion Paper outlined potential measures as part of a possible new regulatory framework to promote competition and increase consumer welfare in digital platform services.
“A new regulatory framework could incorporate measures to address anti-competitive conduct (for example anti-competitively preferencing a platform’s own services above those of its business users), barriers to entry (such as access to data), bargaining imbalances, and insufficient consumer and business user protections (including effective dispute resolution processes),” he said.
“The Paper also outlines other potential measures to improve consumer protection, including obligations on platforms to deal more effectively with online scams and restrictions on other conduct that harms consumers, such as exploitative or manipulative user interfaces.”
Mr Sims said the ACCC had not yet determined which proposals, if any, it would finally recommend.
The ACCC’s 117-page Discussion Paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
