Australia’s consumer watchdog is looking to introduce regulations to rein in anti-competitive behaviour from Apple, Google, Facebook, and other big tech companies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chairman Rod Sims told The Australian Financial Review that big tech companies could soon be banned from promoting their own apps, services, and payment platforms ahead of competitors. Reforms could also include prohibiting big tech from locking apps within operating systems and forcing software developers to use their specific payment systems. The ACCC will make their formal recommendations to the federal government this month and will discuss the reforms with the industry early next year. The proposals would be considered “ex-ante” regulation, meaning the anti-competitive behaviour is prohibited in advance, as opposed to “ex-post,” where the behaviour is dealt with afterwards. Sims said pursuing ex-ante laws for big tech would “keep Australia in lockstep” with other jurisdictions where they already exist, …