On 26 July 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) released its final Digital
Platforms Inquiry report relating to the impact of online
search engines, social media and digital content aggregators on
competition in the media and advertising services markets, with a
particular emphasis on the substantial market power of Google and
Facebook.
The Commonwealth government has undertaken to respond to the
recommendations in the report by the end of 2019, but already
significant changes to Australia's privacy and consumer
protection regimes are being canvassed, particularly in the context
of what the report describes as "the bargain between consumers
and digital platforms and the ability of consumers to both be
informed about their data and exercise meaningful control over
it".
