Facebook rejects Australian regulator’s push for scrutiny of news feeds

Facebook Inc has rejected an Australian regulator’s recommendation for greater scrutiny over the social network’s advertising market power and the ranking of news articles in customers’ feeds.

The proposal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in December, along with a new regulator to police technology giants, is being watched closely in other countries as governments seek to check their power.

“People, not regulators, should decide what they see in their news feeds,” Facebook said in a 76-page submission in reply dated March 3 and emailed to Reuters on Wednesday.