The Federal Government has blessed the ACCC’s request for an extended public inquiry into Google and Facebook as well as a separate probe into the tech giants’ advertising practices, arming the regulator with the power to collect information on the companies’ advertising and search algorithms.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will get an additional $26.9 million to take on Google and Facebook, but the Federal Government will proceed more slowly in implementing some of the more wide-ranging proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report, including suggested changes to privacy and merger review laws.
Google has slammed landmark regulatory action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over the collection and use of location data on Android devices as “cherry-picked”, saying the watchdog had read alleged misstatements by the tech giant out of context.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is preparing to launch five ground-breaking court cases against internet behemoths Google and Facebook, the regulator’s chair, Rod Sims, said Tuesday.
Google and Facebook should be regulated given the potential they have to wield their monopoly powers in ways that would harm consumers, the ACCC said in its highly anticipated preliminary report into the digital platforms.