SANEF calls on the Competition Commission’s MDPMI to get Big Techs to compensate media for content

The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) on Monday made an impassioned submission at the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI), initiated by the Competition Commission of South Africa (Commission), as the three-week inquiry kicked off in Pretoria on Monday 4 March 2024.

SANEF, represented by chairperson Sbu Ngalwa, founding member Guy Berger, and legal representative, Michael Power, asked the Commission to strongly consider getting Big Tech to look at fair compensation for using South African media content.

The presentations were also made by Chris Mcinga and Izak Minnaar, largely speaking on behalf of community media and the Press Council of SA. The Commission told SANEF that “X” (formerly Twitter) has declined to appear before the commission. This is an unfortunate development and a missed opportunity as pointed out by Glenda Daniels, secretary-general of SANEF, that misogyny, bullying, and harassment of women journalists was widespread on the platform. At the same time X has been unresponsive to calls to take down malicious content targeted at women journalists – including threats of rape, doxing and trolling.

SANEF’s submission covered the following points:

• The provision of access to credible news as a public good should be considered as a human rights issue, not only as a matter of commercial competition
• Fair compensation for news in the public interest used on platforms should be based on the value that platforms derive from this content
• Credible news (i.e. subscribing to an independent self-regulatory body and an ethical code) should be prioritised by platforms. It is an antidote for mis- and disinformation
• Transparency of algorithms and sharing of data related to news content and related advertising on platforms should be promoted, as well as access to data that publishers can use to promote and monetise their content