Australia's competition watchdog Monday recommended tougher scrutiny and a new regulatory body to check the dominance of tech giants Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google in the country's online advertising and news markets.
The recommendation, in a preliminary report on the U.S. firms' market power, is being closely watched around the world as lawmakers wrestle with the powerful tech firms' large and growing influence in public life, from privacy to publishing.
It comes days after Australia passed laws forcing tech companies to help police access private user data, and amid growing concern from authorities worldwide about the giants' commercial behavior and distribution of so-called "fake news."