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Facebook, Google brace for the release of Australia’s ground-breaking digital platforms report
14 Jun 2019 12:00 am
Duration: 23:24
It has been a year and a half since the Australian government told its competition watchdog to investigate the impact of digital platforms including Facebook and Google on the country’s media and advertising issue, and now the regulatory is preparing to hand its final report to government. Among the expected recommendations are the creation of a digital-platforms regulator, or an expanded role for existing regulators to take on the technology giants, along with tighter privacy protections and clearer guidelines to oversee acquisitions of nascent rivals by established online platforms. What started off as a narrowly focused examination of the decline of the newspaper industry has ballooned into a comprehensive list of regulatory remedies to counter the platforms growing presence on different Australian markets.
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05 Jun 2019 12:00 am by Laurel HenningCalls for the establishment of a digital regulator to monitor Facebook and Google’s use of algorithms in ranking online content are expected to feature prominently in the final report on Australia’s world-first inquiry into the impact of digital platforms on the advertising and news industries.
Editorial Team
James Panichi Senior Editor, Asia Pacific

James, an Australian journalist with over 25 years’ experience in print and electronic media, is spearheading MLex’s coverage of regulatory risk in Australia and New Zealand. In 2016, James was appointed as MLex’s managing editor for continental Europe, overseeing the Brussels bureau’s coverage of EU regulatory affairs and managing a team of 16 journalists in Brussels and Geneva. Previously James worked for the European Voice newspaper, before joining the European operation of US political website... Read more
Laurel Henning Senior Correspondent

Laurel is a senior correspondent covering data privacy and security, antitrust and mergers and acquisitions across Australia and New Zealand. Prior to that, Laurel spent a year spearheading MLex’s activist investment coverage, looking at boardroom disputes and shareholder campaigns agitating for changes to company strategy. Laurel joined MLex in 2013 and reported for five years on European energy and climate policies from Brussels. In that time, Laurel covered the regulation of emissions and technological developments... Read more