- Ever since the advent of digital medium storming the world on the back of dynamic information technology-driven innovations, people from all walks of life are flush with options to choose from a variety of electronic media gadgets whatever they desire to pursue. The online and virtual world has become ubiquitous as the internet penetrates deep into the hinterlands breaking the unknown barrier like never before. The pandemic has further hastened the incremental usage of digital mediums on several fronts, including entertainment/communication, allowing even the common people to gleefully partake in the revolutionary advent of path-breaking technologies.
PC: Manoj Gujarathi
- As we celebrate the extremely user-friendly information technology gaining prominence everywhere, certain relevant aspects have come to the fore concerning conventional print media news content and the related revenue generation accompanying the reportage. Few countries like Australia, France, and some other European countries have raised concerns about big tech companies and platforms like Google and Facebook linking contents of local media outlets in news feeds or search results. The Indian authorities too have finally moved on similar lines to provide a level playing field for the concerned.
- The Competition Commission of India has ordered a probe against Google for its alleged abuse of its dominant position in news aggregation. Better late than never. For instance, Australia has already passed a law requiring tech behemoths to fairly pay local media outlets for linking their content in news feeds or search results. Further, France has implemented the EU’s updated copyright rules that require digital platforms to compensate news publishers for previews of news content. This forced Facebook last October to sign a deal with a French lobby group that represents 300 French publishers.
PC: Deirdre O’Donoghue
- Make no mistake, the world’s second-largest online market and biggest democracy need equally strong action against tech giants. Note that the health of Indian democracy depends on a financially viable, independent news media. As online news consumption increases, the current system becomes more unfair to news publishers. Remember, Google and Facebook dominate internet traffic taking away as much as 70-80% of advertising revenue that comes from digital consumption of news. Consequently, this makes mainstream news publishing involving gatekeeping and fact-checking as also fact-checking by employing trained professionals increasingly unviable financially.
- We are aware of what will be the harmful aftereffects in the absence of responsibly produced news. We will be left with the social media jungle of half-truths, lies, fake content, superstition, manipulation, and hatemongering ruling the roost unabated. The world is already witnessed the unbridled chaos this can wreak. Further, tech giants falsely argue that they bring substantial traffic to news publishers. This can be factually disputed since it works both ways. Around 40% of trending queries on Google are news-related, bringing considerable traffic to it as tech giants basically get a nearly free ride. Thus, it is logical and fair that online platforms equitably share online ad revenues with news publishers. As such, the CCI’s recent action should hopefully lead to necessary rules ensuring the same.
