Government considers Digital Competition Bill to ensure fair talks and revenue sharing between media publishers and Big Tech

In order to control the interaction between Big Tech corporations and news media publishers, the Indian government is getting ready to establish a Digital Competition Bill.The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is spearheading this legislation push, which aims to establish a more equitable bargaining process that requires internet platforms like Google and Facebook to compensate news publishers for the information they utilize. This program is a component of a larger plan to guarantee fair revenue sharing in the digital ecosystem and sustain the financial stability of news media companies.According to media sources, digital news publishers have expressed worries regarding the potential misuse of their dominating positions by Big Tech companies in ad-revenue sharing arrangements, as the government writes the bill put up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).Digital publishers in India and the Big Tech The connection between digital publishers and Big Tech corporations has become a hot topic in India because of a number of controversial problems pertaining to revenue sharing, market domination, and regulatory concerns. Large tech companies like Google, Facebook (now Meta), and others have a strong hold on the market for digital advertising. They frequently serve as go-betweens for publishers and advertisers, taking use of the enormous user bases and sophisticated targeting features of their platforms. Digital publishers are worried about equitable competition and revenue distribution as a result of this dominance.

Big Tech companies, according to many publishers, frequently favor their own platforms or services over independent ones, dictating conditions in ad-revenue sharing agreements. Critics claim that this mismatch impedes the development andTensions have also occasionally been made worse by Big Tech's algorithmic adjustments or regulation changes, which have a detrimental effect on digital publishers' traffic and ad revenue. Because of these difficulties, appeals have been made for regulatory action to guarantee fair competition and safeguard the rights of smaller publishers. Apart from apprehensions regarding market supremacy and revenue allocation, Big Tech firms operating in India have been subject to examination regarding their data policies and their potential impact on equitable competition. Several corporations, such as Google, Meta, and others, have faced accusations of abusing their extensive user data repositories to obtain unfair advantages in the digital advertising industry. The gathering and use of user data for reasons such as targeted advertising is one controversial topic. Large tech companies frequently compile a lot of data.