Australian regulators, including competition watchdog ACCC and media authority ACMA, have joined forces to form the Digital Platform Regulators Forum.
The forum includes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
The group aims to increase cooperation and information sharing between digital platform regulators on the common areas of the group’s work, including approaches to regulation.
“The forum will help to streamline our approach to the regulation of digital platforms in Australia,” says ACCC chair Rod Sims.
“Since the ACCC began examining digital platform services in 2017, we have observed harms to competition, consumers, and business users in a range of areas dominated by large digital platforms.
“Collaboration with other agencies who also have a role in regulating digital platforms is vital as we consider whether further regulatory reforms are needed to support competition and protect Australian consumers online.”
The ACCC has been looking into digital platforms, including Facebook and Google, in relation to competition and consumer impacts. Other members of the forum, such as ACMA, focus on regulating communication and media services, privacy, and online safety.
“Regulators … face many of the same challenges – addressing emerging consumer harms, encouraging innovation while balancing protections, and countering the market power of these large, complex and diverse multinational entities,” the joint statement from the forum says.
“A critical and overarching focus is considering how competition, consumer protection, privacy, online safety and data intersect in issues that the various regulators consider.”
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