Nine urges Morrison government to implement ACCC’s digital platform recommendations

Nine Entertainment has urged the Australian government to swiftly crack down on Google and Facebook.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the government plans to release the digital platforms inquiry report by the end of the year. Picture: AAP

Nine Entertainment has urged the Australian government to move swiftly to crack down on technology giants Google and Facebook, whose significant market power is hurting the media industry and restricting revenue opportunities.

In its response to the competition watchdog's landmark report into the effect of digital platforms on media and journalism, Nine, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review newspapers, says the heavyweights need to be held accountable, and called for them to work with the local media industry.

“There is a burning platform for many of these recommendations to be implemented to ensure we retain the value of journalistic content and Australian programs for Australian society,” Nine said in its 36-page submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said on Tuesday that the government was looking to release its response to the ACCC landmark report, which included 23 recommendations following its 18 month investigation, by the end of the year.

The recommendations include a specialist digital platforms branch within the ACCC, changes to the merger law, and also to give advance notice of acquisitions by tech giants that might affect competition in Australia.

The 600-plus page ACCC report also recommended Google provide Australian users of Android devices the ability to choose their default search engine.

Nine said it has been “disappointing” to see the digital platforms continue to ignore the harm they are causing to Australian media and news journalism.

“What is more disappointing, however, is that we can easily coexist. By engaging with the Australian media to offer a solution that commercialises premium news and Australian content, the adversarial nature of this review process can cease and a mutually beneficial relationship can be developed,” Nine said.

Nine is “willing to engage constructively” with the tech companies.

“We can no longer afford as an industry and a nation for these large Digital Platforms to use their market position to lock down unfair terms, be free of regulation and take no responsibility for the content they publish to their platforms,” Nine said in its submission.

Facebook recently accused the ACCC of “inaccurate” and “speculative analysis” based on “factual errors” and of misunderstanding the way digital platforms operate. Facebook also rejected the recommendation of a new code of conduct formulated with media companies to pay for fair use of journalistic content and to share data on news rankings.

Google has raised fears about the ACCC report, particularly recommendations to “directly intervene” in the Android smartphone operating system and a proposed revenue sharing deals with news publishers.