Australia To Fine Tech Companies Over Digital Competition

On Monday, Australia introduced a bill that would penalise multinational tech firms up to A$50 million ($33 million) for stifling competition and preventing customers from moving between services.

Big Tech’s power has been addressed by the centre-left Labor government, and this week, a law prohibiting children under 16 from using social media was passed by parliament.

In passages from a speech scheduled for later Monday, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones stated that the proposed law would give Australia’s competition regulator the authority to monitor compliance, look into online anti-competitive behaviour, and penalize businesses.

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Jones said, “The digital economy challenges our current legal framework,” during his speech at the public policy research McKell Institute in Sydney.

“The dominant platforms can charge higher costs, reduce choice, and use sneaky tactics to lock consumers into using certain products. Innovation outside of the established players becomes almost impossible.”

When contacted for comment on the proposed law, Apple, Google, and Meta—the companies that control app downloads and ad revenues—did not immediately reply.

On February 14, the consultation process will come to a close, and further conversations will be held to produce the draft legislation.

Similar to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, the proposed rule may make it easier for consumers to move between rival services like social networking sites, online browsers, and app stores.

The government can select platforms that are most likely to harm competition based on recommendations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“Initially, we will look to prioritise app marketplaces and ad tech services for service-specific obligations,” Jones said.

These particular requirements would ban businesses from giving their services preferential treatment over those of third parties and from pushing their apps with low user ratings to the top of their search results.

According to a 2022 competition commission assessment on digital platform services, Google owned between 93% and 95% of Australia’s internet search services, while the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store accounted for 40% and around 60% of app downloads, respectively.

Together, Facebook and Instagram from Meta Platforms provided 79% of the nation’s social media services.

$1 is equivalent to 1.5359 Australian dollars.

Manomsi Mallum/MSN