South Africa’s media inquiry seeks compensation from tech giants

The Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) in South Africa has released its provisional report, detailing findings and recommendations aimed at addressing the challenges faced by the local news media in the digital landscape. This inquiry comes in response to concerns that the American tech giants are undermining competition and restrict the viability of news media in South Africa.

It has undertaken a comprehensive process over the past 16 months, which included public hearings, evidence gathering, expert submissions and consultations with a wide array of industry stakeholders.

The inquiry’s key findings highlight the financial struggles of South African media outlets. Notably, traditional advertising revenue has experienced a decline, prompting many organisations to pivot towards subscription models, which may not be feasible for the majority of the populace. These conditions have led to reduced newsroom capacities, closure of local bureaus and a lack of reporting in under-served areas, further jeopardising the diversity and accessibility of news.

The provisional report specifically targets major tech platforms, including Google, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, OpenAI, X and TikTok, proposing a set of provisional remedies intended to improve the competitive landscape for digital advertising and journalism in South Africa. This leaves the specifics of the recommendations primarily geared towards the local operations of these global entities.

Among the proposed remedies is a recommendation for Google to compensate South African news media between R300 million ($16.3 million) to R500 million ($27.1 million) annually over a span of three to five years. This compensation seeks to rectify the perceived imbalance in the value shared between the platforms and the media industry. Additional recommendations include altering Google’s search parameters to favour local news and community media over foreign sources.

In a bid to restore previously lost referral traffic, Meta is urged to reinstate the prominence of news posts within Facebook feeds, aiming for at least a 100% increase in referral traffic to media outlets. Furthermore, the inquiry advises both Meta and X to cease deprioritising posts containing news links in user feeds.

YouTube is encouraged to enhance the monetisation potential for media outlets by increasing revenue shares to 70% and promoting direct sales opportunities. Moreover, to combat misinformation, suggestions have been made to amend current legislation to impose platform liability for harmful content while incentivising partnerships between social media and media organisations for fact-checking initiatives.

The inquiry emphasises the importance of transparent data sharing between search and social media platforms, advocating for the provision of anonymised user data to assist media companies in enhancing audience insights and monetisation strategies. Additionally, there is a call for media organisations to have the ability to negotiate collectively with AI firms for content used in training chatbots, preventing preference for existing media partners.

All findings and remedies outlined in the provisional report remain open for further public scrutiny and stakeholder input within a timeframe of six weeks until 7 April, after which adjustments may be made prior to the publication of the final report later this year.

Source: Noah Wire Services