Australian regulators have called for a new digital platform competition law to deal with the rapid expansion of Apple, Google and others

CTOnews.com, Nov. 27 (Reuters)-Australia's competition regulator says it needs to enact a new competition law to cope with the rapid expansion of digital platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta in the country.

In its latest survey of digital platform services, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) noted that the expansion of these platforms increased their risk of engaging in harmful behaviour, such as intrusive data collection and targeting customers and limiting their choices.

Genna Cass-Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chairman of ACCC, said: "our proposed reforms include calls for targeted consumer protection and service-specific code to prevent anti-competitive behaviour on specific digital platforms."

CTOnews.com notes that digital platforms with significant market influence can use product bundling, pre-installation, and default settings to limit customers' choices or prevent competitors from innovating.