Australia: ACCC to probe how Facebook, Google hurt quality journalism

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will examine the impact of Facebook and Google vacuuming up advertising dollars on access to quality news, as the Silicon Valley giants benefit from content made by traditional media companies with falling revenue.

In a broad-ranging inquiry into the impactof digital platforms, such as Google and Facebook, who have up-ended advertising markets across the world, the (ACCC) is calling for submissions from a range of media players, new and old, by April 3.

“While these technological changes have brought many benefits for consumers, this inquiry will have a particular focus on examining whether the changes affect the quality and range of news supplied to Australian consumers,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

The wide-ranging inquiry will also look into how the tech giants use algorithms to present news and whether users truly “understand what data is being collected about them” as well as how it’s used.

According to the ACCC head, one of the inquiry’s main goals is to make the tech giants more transparent.

“Our aim is also to understand better the digital platforms’ business models and how they operate behind the scenes, and the evolving nature of the way consumers search for and receive news in Australia,” Sims said.

Full Content:  Deutsche Welle

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