"But the internet isn't just a few companies and there's a real risk when policymakers look at it in that way. The result can often be that we set a standard that only the largest companies have the resources to meet," she said. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is due to release its final report and recommendations about the digital platforms' impact on traditional media and advertising to the government at the end of the month. Loading Well-placed sources say the inquiry is being watched closely by overseas regulators and technology companies as the recommendations could set a new standard for approaches worldwide. One suggestion made by the ACCC is for regulations to be introduced that are similar to Europe's General Data Protection Regulation launched in 2018 that enforced many data-focused privacy rules on businesses operating online. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has called for a global GDPR roll out. Ms Bose formerly worked as head of global policy for online petition website Change.org, and she said it took her six months of work specifically on GDPR to ensure the site was within the law. Loading "If we want Australians to have the best possible digital services ... we really need to create a policy environment where technology companies want to invest in Australia and where startups feel they can grow," she said. "We're in an economy now where almost every company has a digital presence, so we need to look at that really broadly. It does encompass all digital products and services regardless of the size of the company behind them." The Australian government has taken a strict approach to online mishaps, with new laws pushed through earlier this year in the wake of the Christchurch attacks threatening prison time and huge fines to digital companies that do not act fast enough to take down terrorist and violent content. "Having staff at any internet company face jail time when others misuse their services or having software engineers conceal law enforcement requests from their colleagues, these aren't policies that are going to encourage people to get into technology as a career," Ms Bose said. "Modernising regulations for the digital era is a difficult challenge governments have. We need to have this big picture vision," she said. "The preliminary report did have a wide range of implications across the sector. The internet isn't just a few companies ... I hope in the final report we look at the sector more broadly." Jennifer Duke is an economics correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in Canberra.
digital Consumer Group ( DIGI ) , a charity representing Australia 's digital industry , has warned authorities against regulations aimed at curbing the dominance of Facebook and Google . Such measures could hit smaller companies without the resources to cope with stricter rules , said Sunita Bose , the managing director of the group . Facebook and Google are both targets of DIGI . Australia 's Digital and Consumer Commission ( plc ) is due to release a report on online platforms at the end of June . The ACCC has previously made recommendations for the introduction of a law similar to the EU 's General Data Protection Regulation .