Google pays R688m to media

COMPENSATION: MAJOR GLOBAL PLATFORMS DOMINATE KEY GATEWAYS SA USES FOR INFORMATION

- Ina Opperman

Google has agreed to pay South African media houses R688 million, according to the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry report released yesterday.

The inquiry was initiated by the Competition Commission in line with the Competition Act.

The final report comes after 24 months of extensive evidence gathering, five rounds of information requests, public and in-camera hearings, expert submissions, consultations with industry stakeholders, a consumer survey, a focus group and a provisional report process.

All of this enabled broader public input from media publishers, broadcasters, the digital platforms themselves and academia.

The inquiry was conducted to establish whether there are any market features in digital platforms that distribute news media content which impede, distort or restrict competition, or undermine the purposes of the Competition Act and which have material implications for the news media sector in South Africa.

It found that major global platforms (Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, X and AI companies such as OpenAI) dominate key gateways where South Africans access information, namely search, social media and AI-powered tools.