Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said there is an asymmetry between the digital news publishers and Big Tech platforms over the revenue sharing model. During his address at the second Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) Conclave and Digital Impact Awards, the minister said that the Digital India Act will address this imbalance. “We are concerned there is a deep asymmetry between those who create content and those who help content creators monetise that content,” the minister said at the event hosted by Storyboard18 and the DNPA in New Delhi. ALSO READ: DNPA Conclave 2024: Rajeev Chandrasekhar on India’s ‘spectacular’ digital transformationChandrasekhar assured that the Digital India Act, to be rolled out after the 2024 Lok Sabha election, will deal with the ‘very pronounced and very visible asymmetry’ between the ‘small guy or the medium guy’ in the Indian digital ecosystem and the Big Tech platforms, the gatekeepers for monetising that content. “The asymmetry needs to be legislated, or at the very least, regulated through rules of a new legislation,” he added. The conclave was attended by policymakers, stakeholders as well as industry insiders from India and abroad who discussed and debated the challenging road ahead for the digital media ecosystem in the context of AI-led transformation. “Western world has grown in recent years on the back of Big Tech. It’s the same case with China, and it’s a case of monopoly. But India is the only country that’s taken a different route,” Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO, said at the event. The conclave was attended by delegates including Elena Perotti, Executive Director for Media Policy and Public Affairs at WAN-IFRA, Florian Nehm, Senior Advisor, Axel Springer, Paul Deegan, President and CEO of News Media Canada among others.
The discussions pertained to the need to democratise the publisher-platform relationship, such as breaking up Big Tech monopolies into more competitive units, and exchanged ideas on the future of digital media amid AI disruptions.
They were joined by prominent corporate leaders, including Poonawalla Manoj Gujaran, chief compliance officer & head – Legal and CSR, Poonawalla Fincorp. Veteran journalists Shekhar Gupta and Vikram Chandra also shared invaluable insights.
Ernst & Young unveiled a report titled ‘State of Digital Media in India’ that gives industry insiders a deep look at which way the digital news media industry is headed.
‘Want the internet to be open’, says Union minister
Earlier, Chandrasekhar had pointed out the need for having a legislation in place that would democratise India’s vast internet space. “We want the internet to be open. We don’t want the internet or the monetisation from it to be controlled by just two or three companies,” he added. The minister lamented that social media platforms have an ecosystem of influencers and content creators, and “they’re playing pick-and-choose and playing God”.
He clarified that the Indian government doesn’t want to act as an arbiter, but only to ensure that appropriate rules are in place.
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