Google LLC has been ordered to pay $60 million in penalties by the Federal Court for misleading consumers about use of their personal location data under the first public enforcement outcome to arise out of the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry.

A fresh report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into online retail marketplaces has raised a number of concerns around their consumer data collection, recommendation and service practices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking feedback on a new discussion paper looking at legislative reforms, rules, codes of conduct and access regimes that could directly address the market dominance of digital platform giants.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is calling for search engine choice screens to be introduced in an attempt to kerb Google’s dominance of the search engine market.

Several local media outlets have reached agreements this week to share news across social media digital platforms.

Australia’s News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code has officially passed through the Senate a day after the Government confirmed last-minute amendments made as part of the Morrison Government’s negotiations with Facebook over the past week.

Days after flicking the off switch on Australian news content across its platform, Facebook will reinstate such content in coming days following Federal Government amendments to the News Media Bargaining Code.

A new industry code has been launched aimed at reducing misinformation on digital platforms. It comes in the wake of the Digital Platforms inquiry, conducted by the Australian Communications and Consumer Commission (ACCC), into the dominance of the platforms and the News Media Bargaining Code currently in parliament.

Google has defended its position as a connector and supporter of digital advertising services and stressed continuing levels of competition across the ecosystem in its preliminary response to the ACCC’s interim adtech services inquiry report released yesterday.

A lack of competition, choice and transparency pervades Australia’s digital advertising supply chain and it’s hurting publishers, advertisers and consumers alike, says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Google has labelled the News Media Bargaining Code tabled in Australian Parliament earlier this month as “unworkable” until further changes are made to the legislation.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is once again instigating proceedings against Facebook, this time for allegedly misusing consumer data relating to a VPN app for marketing purposes.

News of the Federal Government tabling the ACCC’s news media bargaining code of conduct bill this week in Parliament has been welcomed by several Australian news media organisations even as questions about the ongoing power of digital platform providers continue.

Australian privacy laws will be reviewed through the Attorney-General's department, the government recently announced. The inquiry is currently accepting submissions with an issues paper to be released at the end of this month.

Google has been hit with an antitrust lawsuit by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for unlawfully maintaining a monopoly in search and search advertising, in what the DOJ says is a violation of US antitrust laws.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will start its investigation of the mobile app marketing in Australia, part of its ongoing digital platforms inquiry.

Google and Facebook have hit back with public campaigns warning of the dire consequences of a news payments regime proposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Australia’s media and industry commentators have been quick to applaud the ACCC’s mandatory draft code for negotiation between traditional news organisations and digital platforms giants aimed at restoring the balance of power between new and old media.

Facebook has announced it’s tightening its rules around hurtful content as more brands boycott the platform. Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, shared the platform’s renewed efforts from its second civil rights audit.

Harmful content, misinformation and fake news are firmly in the spotlight this week as protests escalate against the spread of racially insensitive content on social platforms and a new code of conduct for digital platforms enters circulation.

IAB Australia hosted a data governance and consumer privacy webinar recently. As part of this, principal of one of Australia's most respected experts in privacy law and practice, Salinger Privacy, Anna Johnston, shared her thoughts on the future of privacy for the Australian and global media and marketing industry.