Addressing the second DNPA Conclave & Digital Impact Awards, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that the upcoming Digital India Act will address the asymmetry between digital news publishers and big tech platforms in the revenue-sharing model. The event was hosted by Storyboard 18 and the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA).
“We are concerned there is a deep asymmetry between those who create content and those who help content creators monetise that content,” he said. The Digital India Act, once rolled out after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, would “deal with this 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 new legislation”, the MoS added.
Mr. Chandrasekhar was referring to situations where big tech giants, like the Alphabet-owned Google, take a far larger share of the revenue than the news publishers for using their published content.
“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,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said.
The conclave featured an international lineup, including G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, who praised India’s unique approach to keeping its digital landscape competitive. “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,” Mr. Kant said.
Other attendees included 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; Clement Birdsall, senior publisher and platform director, APAC by IAS; Matthew Stoller, antitrust advocate and director of research, American Economic Liberties Project; and Dr. Courtney Radsch, director, Centre for Journalism and Liberty, UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Politics. Manoj Gujaran, Chief Compliance Officer & Head - Legal and CSR, Poonawalla Fincorp, and veteran journalists including Shekhar Gupta and Vikram Chandra also shared their insights at the event. The Hindu was represented by Digital Business Head Pradeep Gairola.
The 2024 DNPA Conclave & Awards featured speeches, conversations, fireside chats, panel discussions, Q&A sessions, and an awards night recognising Indian digital innovators in various categories.
The Hindu was represented by Digital business head Pradeep Gairola.
