"Digital platforms have overseen a proliferation in fake news and the emergence of echo chambers or filter bubbles," the submission says. “Alarmingly, the phenomenon of fake news appears to be growing, with no clear oversight as to how it can be managed." Despite this, News Corp had not formed a final view on whether regulation was necessary, saying current laws “may” be sufficient. A submission from News' pay-TV portal Foxtel argued that free, but unauthorised, availability of Foxtel and Fox Sports content on the platforms was undermining its subscription revenue. It said Facebook and Google's interest in sports rights should prompt the end of the anti-siphoning scheme, which aims to give free-to-air broadcasters the chance to get first access, as the digital giants were not subject to the same rules and were competing with subscription television providers. Foxtel recently secured the rights to every match of cricket in a joint six-year $1.2 billion deal with Seven West Media. And News' real estate classifieds site, REA Group, pointed to Google, Facebook, Gumtree, Amazon and Airbnb as "formidable" potential and current competitors.

Australian Associated Press, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Getty Images, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, oOh!media, Network Ten, Nine Entertainment Co and SBS also weighed in with their own submissions. Free-to-air broadcaster Nine Entertainment Co argued the pendulum had “swung too far in favour of free content” and click-bait content, and in many cases the digital platforms competed with Nine for traffic using its own content. Loading Public forum The competition regulator will hold a public forum for consumers, businesses and journalists as part of its investigation into the digital platforms.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement it had received feedback from news organisations, academics, advertisers, news consumers and social media users. “We encourage working journalists, consumers of news and advertisers to be part of our public forums. It’s vital that we hear from, and understand the views of, many voices interested in this inquiry,” Mr Sims said. A preliminary report will be given to Treasury in December, which will include a range of recommendations. Google's submission, released last month, talked about its role in helping publishers and media. The search behemoth has an advertising partnership with Fairfax Media, owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Fairfax's submission separated out Google from Facebook, saying there had been less progress commercially with the latter. Meanwhile, Facebook defended its role in the digital landscape, describing a multi-sided market where it faced competition from every online platform attempting to attract attention.