I welcome the Competition Commission’s bold stance on holding tech giants accountable for supporting South African journalism. The commission is proposing that Google compensate local news media between R300-million and R500-million annually for up to five years. This is a major win for our media industry, which has long struggled against declining revenues in the digital age.
But it’s not just Google in the spotlight—Meta (Facebook), X (formerly Twitter), and other social media platforms are also being called out. If these companies fail to comply, the commission may introduce a hefty 5-10% levy to ensure the local media industry gets its fair share.
A Fight for Fairness
One of the biggest concerns is Meta’s decision to de-prioritise news on Facebook. The commission wants it to reverse this and restore referral traffic to its peak levels—at least a 100% increase. X and Meta are also being urged to stop limiting news links in users’ feeds.
“The news media is essential for free expression and democracy, informing citizens and holding institutions accountable,” the commission stated. “While there are challenges that the media must face from the disruptive effect of digitalisation, the inquiry provisionally finds that these challenges are exacerbated by the conduct of platforms that hinder the ability of the news media to secure and monetise digital traffic.”
Levelling the Playing Field
The proposed remedies don’t stop there. The commission is calling on YouTube to increase revenue shares for media houses to 70% and actively promote direct sales. It also recommends amending the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act to introduce liability for harmful content and misinformation, ensuring social media platforms compensate media outlets for fact-checking services.
According to the commission, “These digital platforms do not produce news themselves and cannot replace journalism’s role.”
Another key proposal is to remove search bias that favours foreign media and YouTube, ensuring greater visibility for vernacular and community media. The commission also wants search engines and social media platforms to share richer anonymised user data with media houses, helping them better monetise their audiences.
Artificial Intelligence companies are not exempt from scrutiny either. The report recommends that South African media be allowed to negotiate collectively for content deals used to train AI chatbots. If this is not done, AI models must be prevented from favouring global media giants over local outlets.
Journalism Still Matters
The commission rightly acknowledges that news media is crucial for democracy, free expression, and holding power to account. “Against this backdrop and extensive evidence gathering, the provisional report presents a series of provisional findings against tech giants including Google, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, OpenAI, X and TikTok, along with provisional remedies across search, social media, generative AI and digital advertising to address conduct that adversely impact competition for digital advertising and journalism in South Africa.”
While the shift to online news consumption has disrupted traditional revenue streams, digital platforms should not be allowed to worsen the situation by unfairly profiting from journalism without compensation.
These findings are provisional, and further engagements could refine them. However, this is a significant moment for South African journalism. If these proposals are enforced, they could reshape the media landscape for the better, ensuring sustainability for our news industry in the digital era.
I, for one, will be watching closely to see how the tech giants respond.