What is it?
In December 2017 the Federal Government directed the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to
conduct an inquiry to examine the impact of digital search engines,
social media applications and online digital content aggregation
platforms on the state of competition in Australian media and
advertising services markets.
The terms of reference direct the Inquiry to consider the extent
to which platform service providers are exercising market power in
commercial dealings with the creators of journalistic content and
advertisers. The Inquiry is also looking at the effect digital
platforms have on the level of choice and quality of news and
journalistic content available to consumers. As a by-product of the
interplay between digital platforms and the media and advertising
services markets, the Inquiry will also consider consumer data
protection and privacy issues.
