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New rules are designed to combat “anti-competitive conduct” on platforms from Apple, Google, Meta, and more.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is pleased that the Australian federal government has agreed – at least in principle – with recommendations made in its September Digital Platform Services Inquiry report.
The report found that a number of the major digital platforms belonging to companies, such as Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, engaged in anti-competitive practices. This conduct includes preferencing their own products in search results and forcing developers to use the in-app payments systems tied to the company’s app store – often charging exorbitant commissions.
“Companies like Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon supply services that most Australians use every day,” ACCC acting chair Catriona Lowe said in a statement. “These digital platforms are often unavoidable ‘gatekeepers’ between Australian businesses and consumers, giving them huge influence across the whole economy.”
The report also noted that many such platforms treat smaller businesses – which are reliant on such platforms for their day-to-day operations – in an unfair manner.
“The proposed reforms will ensure fairer and more transparent treatment of small and medium-sized businesses, allowing Australians to fully realise the benefits of participating in the digital economy. By promoting competition in these markets, the reforms will also provide consumers more choice, higher quality services, and fairer terms and conditions.”
The report’s recommendations include mandatory codes of conduct for “designated digital platforms”, and the new regulations would coexist with current competition laws. The report also proposed new obligations to address scams and other harmful content on the targeted digital platforms.
“The United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and the European Union have already announced or implemented significant new competition and consumer regulations for digital platforms,” Lowe said.
“It is our experience that platforms rarely extend changes made in one jurisdiction to others, so it is critical that the Australian government works quickly to implement these reforms so that consumers and small businesses aren’t left behind.”
In his response to the report, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said the move was about giving Australians a voice.
“We want Australians to have confidence that they can use digital platforms safely, and that they’ll be heard by the platform if something goes wrong," Jones said in a statement.
"The steps we are taking here build on the work that the Albanese Government has already done to put Australian consumers and small businesses first after a decade of neglect.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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