DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

ACCC’s big tech watchdog low on funding

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Nov-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has confirmed that its digital platforms team’s funding is set to lapse at the end of 2025. Sources have indicated that the team now comprises about 10 researchers, experts and lawyers, compared with more than 30 at its peak. The team was established by the former Coalition government in 2020, in response to the recommendations of an ACCC inquiry into digital platforms. Some former members of the team are said to have taken up roles at the technology compaies that it had been set up to monitor. The future of the digital platforms team is part of broader concerns about a looming ‘funding clifff’ for the federal government ahead of its mid-year budget update.

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AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Musk’s lawyers to fight orders on two fronts

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Original article by Nick Bonyhady, Tess Bennett, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 24-Apr-24

Social media giant X could incur a fine of up to $782,500 for each day it does not comply with a directive to remove video footage of the Sydney church stabbing from its platform. However, X owner Elon Musk contends that the ‘take-down’ order goes too far, given that it applies globally. The US billionaire has expressed concern about one country being allowed to censor content for all countries. Musk’s lawyers have indicated that they could challenge the take-down order in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described Musk as an egotist and accused him of being "out of touch with common decency". Meanwhile, the Coalition has proposed barring young children from using social media to protect them from harmful content.

CORPORATES
X CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Security chiefs to target tech giants

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 24-Apr-24

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw will jointly address the National Press Club on Wednesday. They will urge technology companies to work with law enforcement and intelligence agenies to combat the use of their platforms by criminals and extremists. They are particularly concerned about the use of end-to-end encryption services such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram to disseminate racist and other harmful information and ideologies. Burgess has also warned that artificial intelligence technology will facilitate national security threats such as espionage, foreign interference and radicalisation.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Twitter deal could be terrific: Sims

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Original article by John Davidson, Tess Bennett, Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 27-Apr-22

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s former chairman Rod Sims has welcomed the acquisition of Twitter by US billionaire Elon Musk. He says the $64.1bn deal will be "terrific" for Australian businesses if Musk follows through with his plans for Twitter, which including making its algorithms open source and cracking down on disinformation on the social media platform. However, Reset Australia’s executive director Chris Cooper says the Twitter buyout demonstrates the need for proper regulation of technology companies.

CORPORATES
TWITTER INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RESET AUSTRALIA

Social media’s self-policing plan laughable

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Original article by Paul Smith, Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 23 : 12-Oct-21

Public interest groups have dismissed DIGI’s plans to establish an independent panel to oversee the voluntary code of conduct governing misinformation and disinformation that appears on the platforms of technology companies such as Facebook and Google. Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran of Reset Australia says DIGI’s code is little more than a public relations stunt, and she contends that self-regulation of the sector does not work.

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DIGI, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, RESET AUSTRALIA

Media regulator sets goals for fake news code

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 26-Jun-20

The Australian Communications & Media Authority will work with digital platforms to establish a voluntary code of practice on misinformation and news quality. Such a code was a recommendation of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin says false or misleading news and information on the internet has the potential to cause great harm, while she says the code will need to strike a balance between the right to freedom of speech and the need to curb the spread and impact of damaging information online.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

News says $600m from tech giants not enough

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-May-20

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller agrees with Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello that Facebook and Google must pay for news content. However, Miller says the amount they should pay is probably much higher than the $600m a year that Costello has suggested; he notes that former senator Nick Xenophon has proposed that digital platforms pay $1bn a year. Miller adds that getting the digital platforms’ mandatory revenue-sharing code of conduct right is the first thing to do.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Nine wants tech giants to pay $600m to media

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Original article by Max Mason, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 14-May-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry concluded that Facebook and Google accounted for about $6bn of online advertising revenue in Australia in 2018. Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello says that based on this figure, Facebook and Google derive about 10 per cent of their annual revenue from news content. As a result, he believes that they should pay about $600m a year into a fund for Australian news publishers. Costello adds that other countries may adopt Australia’s policy of a mandatory revenue-sharing code of conduct if it proves to be effective.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Google hit for billions but EU chief regrets not going harder

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-19

The federal government will release details of its formal response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry on 12 December. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the government is working through its response to issues raised by the ACCC. Meanwhile, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says that in retrospective she would have taken a "bolder" approach to the anti-trust case against Google. The digital giant was fined more than EUR8bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, EUROPEAN COMPETITION COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT

Coalition wary of content tax on tech giants

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 4-Dec-19

Facebook says it supports 15 of the 29 recommendations in the final report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry. Facebook also rejects suggestions that it has hired lobbyists to influence the federal government’s response to the report, and states that the ACCC’s proposed code of conduct would "unfairly shield" media companies. Meanwhile, the government is said to be concerned that requiring digital players to pay media companies for the use of their content could be perceived as a new tax, which could in turn prompt digital companies to relocate offshore.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT