ACCC takes aim at the expanding ecosystems of digital platforms

The ACCC is investigating the expanding ecosystems of digital platform service providers in Australia as part of its five year Digital Platform Services Inquiry.

An issues paper published today poses questions and seeks submissions from consumers, businesses and interested stakeholders about the investment decisions made by digital platforms, the interconnectedness of expanded products and services within each ecosystem and the potential impacts on competition and consumers.

The issues paper will inform the ACCC’s seventh report due to be submitted to the Treasurer by September 30 this year.

The interim report will examine products and services offered by digital platform service providers across a variety of sectors and will use examples like the expansion into consumer cloud storage and smart home devices to analyse the relationships between digital platform services and various services offered in their digital platform ecosystems.

The report will also examine the expansion strategies used by digital platform service providers and how this has affected interoperability of products and services across ecosystems and if it has increased consumer lock-in behaviours or other conduct like bundling, tying or self-preferencing to inhibit competition.

Excessive collection and potentially problematic use of personal data or other behaviours such as dark patterns to confuse or manipulate consumers will also be considered.

Selection of the different sectors and technologies that Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft have expanded into in Australia over the past decade.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said: “Large digital platforms have become an integral part of our daily lives, they have access to enormous user data bases and personal information across their ecosystems. This report will assess how that data can leveraged across products and services within an ecosystem that may prevent businesses from entering and competing.

“Interconnected products, like smart home devices and cloud storage solutions, can provide consumers with a seamless experience that simplifies everyday tasks, but it’s important that competition and consumers are not harmed as digital platforms invest across different sectors and technologies and expand their reach."

Submissions are due by April 5 and can be made by emailing the ACCC.

The inquiry reports to the Treasurer every six months and examines different forms of digital platform services, their advertising services as well as data brokers. The ACCC’s sixth report on competition and consumer issues relating to social media services in Australia is due to the Treasurer by March 31.

The fifth report proposed that platforms be subject to mandatory dispute resolution processes and stronger requirements for combating scams, harmful apps and fake reviews, among other measures.