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Highlights:
- The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that existing consumer and competition laws do not address the harms and risks associated with digital platforms.
- The five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry report of the ACCC has recommended some laws that can address consumer and competition harms.
The Australian consumer watchdog the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that the expansion of digital platforms in Australia had created certain harms and risks that are not addressed by the existing consumer and competition laws.
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the ACCC chair, said that their analysis had located some harms across a range of digital platform services that are systemic, entrenched, and widespread. Taking into consideration the position these platforms have as an intermediary or gatekeeper between consumers and businesses and influencing the economy at large, the ACCC has recommended reforms that are crucial for Aussies.
Issues reported by the ACCC across digital platforms
The ACCC has reported a substantial increase in scams across digital platforms. Cass-Gottlieb stated:
Fake reviews are another issue highlighted by the ACCC.
What are the recommendations made by the ACCC?
The five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry report of the ACCC has recommended some laws under which digital platforms are required to:
- Offer user-friendly processes for reporting fake reviews, scams, and harmful applications and respond to such complaints.
- Reduce the scam risk by verifying business users like merchants, app developers, and advertisers.
- Undertake review verification processes.
- Report the scams, fake reviews, and harmful apps on their services and the steps taken to address them.
- Ensure that customers have access to dispute resolution schemes.
Competition-related issues and recommendations
Large digital platforms can engage in conduct that harms the competition. The Australian consumer watchdog suggests that a new-regulatory regime should work with existing competition laws to address issues like barrier to entry, unfair treatment of business users, and anticompetitive conduct.
The ACCC has recommended the setting up of service-specific codes that support targeted obligations to:
- Prevent anticompetitive tying, self-preferencing, and exclusive pre-installation arrangements.
- Address data advantages.
- Ensure fair treatment of business users.
- Ensure there is no hindrance to consumer switching, interoperability, and transparency.
