Facebook, Google, may have to expose algorithms to Australia ACCC

Facebook and Google may be forced to reveal the operation of closely guarded algorithms that fuel their businesses under a new boost for Australia's technology regulation.

Australian regulators turned to the tech giants when they published the results of an 18-month survey on the impact of platforms such as Facebook and Google on the news. economy of the country.

The proposals of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) report – which the Australian government now has to decide whether to apply or not – would be one of the most severe enforcement regimes. in the world.

The details of how the algorithms of technology giants could be microscopically have not been made explicit in the report, a 619-page document that you can access here.

However, the paper describes a new, powerful regulator within ACCC that would be able to take a close look at how the algorithms work: the Digital Platforms Branch.

The clearer reference comes closer to the end of the paper, after a section dealing with the risk that Facebook or Google will stifle competition in new markets by asking their algorithms to prioritize their own products over those of their competitors.

Page 531 of the document says (underlining added):

The ACCC notes that concern about possible anti-competitive behavior, including strengthening market power from one market to the other, is one of the main reasons for the creation of a specialized branch of the ACCC digital platforms, in order to develop and develop expertise in digital markets. and the use of algorithms (recommendation 4).

The creation of this branch will allow ACCC to proactively monitor digital platforms and study the potentially anti-competitive behavior of digital platforms, including the type of potential behavior described in this section.

As the "behavior" in question in these paragraphs is the operation of Facebook and Google algorithms, in order to proactively monitor it, it would be necessary for the regulatory authority to understand how they work.

Earlier in the report, ACCC stated that it could force Facebook and Google to provide detailed information about its internal workings.

Page 32 of the report asks the government to grant it "the ability to compel relevant information" through a public inquiry.

At a press conference in Sydney to promote the report, Josh Frydenberg, Australia's treasurer, said that ACCC "would lift the veil" on secret algorithms, according to Reuters and the US. Guardian.

According to the BBC, he also said about Facebook and Google that "their activities must be more transparent".

Facebook has not responded publicly to the regulator's report, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the newspaper, a representative of Google said the company "would engage with the government on the recommendations".

The creation of the powerful branch of digital platforms was just one of the report's 23 recommendations, which also deal with misinformation and the ability for Google to automatically set its own default services on Android devices.

For a broader summary of the report's recommendations, read this article from Business Insider Australia.