The Competitors Fee needs Google to “compensate” South African information media between R300-million and R500-million yearly over a three- to five-year interval.
This is among the most important findings within the fee’s much-anticipated provisional report stemming from its 16-month media and digital platforms market inquiry.
And its proposals don’t cease at Google: the fee additionally has X, Meta Platforms and different tech and social media corporations in its sights. It’s additionally warned that if the businesses focused in its findings don’t cooperate on the proposed treatments, it could search a 5-10% levy on the tech giants to compensate the native media business.
The fee mentioned it needs Meta to cease de-prioritising information on Fb “to revive referral visitors to the media from its peak with at the very least a 100% improve in referral visitors”. Elon Musk’s X and Meta should additionally “stop de-prioritising information with hyperlinks within the person feed”. These calls for arrange the fee for a giant battle with these international tech giants, which have pushed again in opposition to such proposals in different jurisdictions.
On Google, the fee has advisable that the web big pay as much as R500-million/12 months to right what it has described because the “imbalance in shared worth whereas putting in modifications to go looking that can sustainably create shared worth with the media by will increase in referral visitors”.
“This contains the elimination of search bias in favour of international media and YouTube, and the promotion of vernacular and neighborhood media,” the fee mentioned in a press release.
Different findings
Moreover, the competitors regulator – which has begun flexing its muscle tissues within the broad expertise sector – has made the next suggestions within the draft report:
- YouTube ought to enhance the flexibility of the media and broadcasters, together with the SABC, to monetise their content material on its platform by will increase within the income share to 70% and lively promotion of upper worth direct gross sales by the media.
- To deal with misinformation, the Digital Communications and Transactions Act ought to be amended to introduce platform legal responsibility for dangerous content material and the amplification of misinformation. The fee has proposed that the social media platforms companion with and compensate the media on fact-checking.
- Search and social media ought to share richer anonymised person knowledge for customers partaking with information content material on their platforms to allow improved insights and monetisation of their audiences.
- The media ought to be allowed to barter collectively with synthetic intelligence corporations for content material offers to coach AI chatbots. If not, measures ought to be in place to stop AI chatbots from favouring international media companions and to drive referral visitors to native information media.
“The information media is important free of charge expression and democracy, informing residents and holding establishments accountable. Globally, the media business is present process speedy change because of the shift to on-line information consumption, difficult conventional income fashions and necessitating modifications to enterprise fashions,” the fee mentioned in a press release.
Learn: YouTube: a $455-billion media big hiding in plain sight
“Whereas there are challenges that the media should face from the disruptive impact of digitalisation, the inquiry provisionally finds that these challenges are exacerbated by the conduct of platforms that hinder the flexibility of the information media to safe and monetise digital visitors,” it mentioned. “These digital platforms don’t produce information themselves and can’t exchange journalism’s function.”
“In opposition to this backdrop and intensive proof gathering, the provisional report presents a sequence of provisional findings in opposition to tech giants together with Google, Meta (Fb), Microsoft, OpenAI, X and TikTok, together with provisional treatments throughout search, social media, generative AI and digital promoting to deal with conduct that adversely impression competitors for digital promoting and journalism in South Africa,” the fee mentioned.
“You will need to word that the findings and treatments are provisional and that additional submissions, proof and engagements with the inquiry following the discharge of the provisional report could end in modifications to those findings, suggestions and treatments.”
Learn: Google rages over ‘grave’ EU errors because it fights €4.3-billion advantageous
Stakeholders and the general public have till 7 April to submit their responses to the inquiry concerning the provisional findings, proposed treatments and proposals. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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