Australia’s four digital platform regulators sets up national forum
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Four of Australia’s digital platform regulators have joined forces in setting up a national forum to improve information sharing and regulatory coordination.
The Australian eSafety Commissioner, ACMA, ACCC and OAIC have created the Digital Platform Regulators Forum to better address consumer harms and counter the collective market power and influence of Big Tech.
A key focus of the forum will be considering how online safety, privacy and data protection, and competition and consumer protection, intersect when it comes to regulating online services.
“Each digital platform regulator in this forum plays an important and unique role in protecting Australians online, whether it’s protecting their privacy, standing up for their consumer rights, or in the case of eSafety, protecting Australians from personal harms online,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
“Working together on a forum like this will help us all regulate this complex digital world more effectively, efficiently and coherently, by sharing information and coordinating our regulatory actions to counter the market power and influence of Big Tech and make sure they are holding up their end of the bargain when it comes to protecting the fundamental rights and safety of all Australians who are using their products.”
The common goal of the national forum is the protection of all Australians online, delicately balancing prioritising protections without stifling innovation.
“As digital regulators, we face similar challenges but in different domains so working together in this way will help us take a more aligned approach to enable us all to regulate more effectively across a spectrum of potential harms. We want to ensure we’re taking a joined-up approach,” Commissioner Grant said.
The new Digital Platform Regulators Forum will meet bi-monthly and employ a rotating chair system. Stakeholders from industry or elsewhere may be invited to observe meetings and contribute to issues relating to the regulation of digital platforms.
Source: eSafety Commissioner Media Release
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
