MyCC said the market review will examine various aspects of the digital economy, including the structure of the market, the behaviour of enterprises, and the conduct of suppliers and consumers, along with other relevant matters.

The review will focus on several key areas, including mobile operating systems, with an emphasis on integrating Application Programming Interface payment systems for seamless in-app purchases, it said in a statement.

Additionally, the review will cover online digital advertising, examining methods such as search engine marketing, social media ads, display advertising, and video promotions.

“Data privacy and protection concerns will be central to the study, particularly issues related to switching costs, data misuse, and control of data by major players in each sub-sector,” it said.

MyCC will host a series of focus group discussions to ensure the review is comprehensive and inclusive.

The focus groups will have separate sessions to discuss online travel agencies (Aug 20), e-commerce (Aug 21), online advertising services (Aug 27) and mobile operating and payment systems (Aug 29).

Issues surrounding data privacy and protection will also be discussed during the sessions.

It said these discussions are designed to gather a diverse range of perspectives and insights from various stakeholders, ensuring the review captures the full impact of the digital economy on Malaysians.

MyCC explained that it has the authority to conduct market reviews either on its own initiative or at the request of the minister as per Section 11 of the Competition Act 2010 (Act 712).

It said the reviews it conducts are designed to determine whether any feature or combination of features in the market prevents, restricts or distorts competition.

In June, digital minister Gobind Singh Deo said Malaysia’s digital economy is projected to contribute 25.5% to the country’s GDP by the end of next year, from the current 23%.