Making news has a cost, and it’s only fair that tech giants have to pay to use content on their platforms
Post Date – 12:45 AM, Tue – 6/13/23
Making news has a cost, and it’s only fair that tech giants have to pay to use content on their platforms
At a time when revenues for media organizations, both print and digital, are rapidly dwindling, a compelling moral argument is catching on around the world that tech giants must be made to pay for news content on their platforms and share advertising with local Publisher’s revenue. The explosion of global digital platforms such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft, with their pervasive impact on our lives, has created an uneven playing field as they rely on content originally created by newsrooms without compensation . New draft legislation aimed at making big tech companies pay news publishers for the content they put on their platforms is a welcome development. Some countries have begun to equitably distribute income among creators and aggregators of news content. In Australia, Facebook and Google need to negotiate fees with media organizations to host their content. Last year, the law generated A$140 million in new revenue for Australian journalism, providing much-needed resources to invest in quality journalism and credible content. The draft Digital India Bill, which will be released for public consultation later this month, gives news publishers negotiating leverage as it addresses the dynamic imbalance between content creation and its monetization. Advertising is the main source of income for journalism. But, over the years, publishers have seen their share of the digital space shrink as social media companies gain a larger share without creating any original content.
News publishers around the world believe that Facebook and Google will benefit from news appearing on their feeds because it draws a large number of users to the platforms. There’s no denying that tech giants and publishers need each other. However, the reality is that the tech giants end up capturing the lion’s share of the revenue. It’s not fair that big digital platforms like Google and Meta host and share local news for free. Making news has a cost, and it’s only fair that they pay. The rise of digital advertising has spawned a new ecosystem that redistributes ad dollars to tech companies. While social media platforms generate clicks, engagement and even revenue from content published by media organizations, news organizations, especially small and mid-sized ones, suffer as more advertising comes online. Nearly 850 million people in India are connected to the Internet. By 2025, this number is expected to grow to 1.2 billion. The draft bill aims to address online safety issues such as child sexual abuse material, incitement to religious hatred, patent infringement and misinformation on social media platforms. The legislation would provide governments with a legal basis to hold platforms accountable for hosting such content. The regulation of artificial intelligence has also been put on the agenda.
