Government Pushes for Fair Revenue Sharing in Journalism

Key Indian officials are urging fair revenue sharing between news publishers and tech giants like Google and Meta while addressing media’s future in digital space.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted concerns 1740681605761

In New Delhi, the IT and Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw talked about how news publishers aren’t getting enough money from big tech companies like Google and Meta. He asked the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) to suggest clear steps to help news outlets shift from traditional media to digital platforms. Vaishnaw emphasized the need for fair payment for quality content created after careful checks.

Sanjay Jaju, the information secretary, added that the government is thinking about new rules to ensure fairness and modernization in the news industry. He pointed out that many media companies create great content but aren’t getting enough money in return, which could hurt quality journalism.

At the same conference, IndiaAI CEO Abhishek Singh announced plans to work with Prasar Bharati and All India Radio. This partnership aims to gather news in multiple languages, which will help people creating AI models. Singh encouraged news publishers to share their multilingual content, which can be valuable for developing AI applications.

Singh mentioned that the first version of the IndiaAI Datasets Platform will launch soon and that they have chosen 30 useful applications aimed at helping farmers and diagnosing diseases. There are ongoing efforts to clean and organize government data that can help develop AI services too.

During the event, IT Secretary S. Krishnan stated that existing laws are good enough to handle problems like deepfakes and misinformation, although new rules might be introduced if needed. He said AI can benefit society far more than it can harm it, and regulations should support growth while protecting people.

The topic of AI and copyright was also important during the conference. The DNPA and some of its members are involved in a lawsuit over copyright issues concerning AI-generated content. Jaju expressed concerns that AI often favors certain stories without paying original creators, which raises important questions about ownership.

Jaju highlighted the need for a fair revenue-sharing system to keep quality journalism alive. He warned that misinformation and sensational journalism could hurt democracy, and the current laws are sometimes misused to avoid accountability for spreading false news. He urged media platforms to take responsibility for the dangerous effects of their algorithms.

Comments

Leave a Reply