SA has fired its first salvo in a war with Big Tech. Yes, a war. For the uninitiated, let me elucidate.
The Competition Commission, one of our most important regulators, has been tiptoeing around big tech titans, who have encroached upon our digital borders and monopolised information, shortchanging news media platforms by as much as R300m a year and using their algorithms to promote foreign news media over local ones disproportionately.
But why should we, as a nation, care? After all, isn’t Big Tech just the inevitable harbinger of progress? In the 2010s the industry, dominated by Google, Meta and Elon Musk’s X, launched a never-before-seen onslaught into the uncharted wilderness of the internet.
Much like the invasive pompom weed aggressively spreading its unpalatable roots, Big Tech faced few legal safeguards, disrupting the natural balance of our digital ecosystem and remaining unchecked by natural predators.
Until late 2023, when Doris Tshepe, the then newly appointed head of the Competition Commission, who is unflinching in using the law as a tool for social justice, launched an inquiry into the darkening of the digital dream, dressed up as democratising knowledge.
But she cannot win this fight alone. Businesses, journalists and the public must play a role in supporting this effort to ensure a fair and equitable digital future for all South Africans. Tshepe has done the heavy lifting, bringing crucial issues to the forefront and setting the stage for meaningful change.
For one thing, she has recommended that Google share half of the almost R1bn it makes from news-related searches. That amounts to a fair share, rather than financial support. Sure, relying on regulatory interference can introduce additional layers of bureaucracy and red tape, potentially stifling adaptable solutions tailored to the specific needs of both parties.
But media companies have struggled to reach equitable agreements with Google, per the commission’s findings, underlining the power imbalance between Big Tech and smaller media outlets. It’s a market failure that summons into action the thought leadership of Mariana Mazzucato, an economics professor at University College London and policy adviser to governments, who argues that government intervention is essential not only to correct market failures but to actively shape and create markets that serve the public good.
Biased algorithms
Tshepe has cut through Big Tech’s invisible cloak under biased algorithms, which are dressed up as convenience, emancipation and empowerment. The algorithms claim to simplify our lives by providing tailored content and personalised information, while underneath this veneer lies hidden biases that have long favoured them at the expense of local media.
For instance, Google’s search algorithm disproportionately favours its own services, such as YouTube, and foreign media, making it harder for SA news publishers to gain visibility and make money out of their content. The commission has recommended that Google modify its search algorithm to increase referral traffic to SA news sources.
Failure is not an option. Alternatively, the traditional news media’s role, now including countering misinformation peddled by Big Tech’s platforms, is relegated further to a form of volunteer work, dedicated to shining the light on the dark corners of our democracy. Journalists and news organisations operate as guardians under some of the most challenging conditions, driven by a sense of duty to inform and hold power to account. Still, this effort is not enough to sustain a robust press.
Tshepe has wielded the legal sword, it’s time for us to step into the fray. For news publications, this means a detox from clickbait, a return to the good old-fashioned pursuit of truth and the highest journalistic standards. For the public and businesses, the benefits could not be broadcast loudly enough: a vigorous media is the bedrock of an enlightened electorate, a bulwark against corruption and platform for a rainbow of voices.
Corporate SA must snap out of its slumber. It has been funnelling its ad budgets into platforms that more often than not are the breeding ground for conspiracy theories, disinformation and outright nonsense. It’s easy to be lured by the vast reach and targeted advertising offered by Big Tech, but in truth it not only undermines credible journalism, from which we all benefit, but contributes to the proliferation of misleading and harmful content.
SA companies have erected a colossal irrigation system watering the invasive pompom weed, a wilful blindness that goes against the values — integrity, social responsibility and accountability — they should hold sacred.
This newspaper made proposals about how this support could manifest in a recent editorial, ranging from an innovative funding model to a populace willing to invest in content that counts. It is good to see that some of these suggestions have been taken up by the commission, especially the one that entails setting up a fund.
Media fund
The proposal is straightforward: create a media fund to which corporations channel a portion of their existing corporate investment budgets, which topped R12bn in 2023. This would complement existing solutions such as subscription models, which have yet to take off profitably in a country in which many citizens are struggling to make ends meet.
The battle with Big Tech is not a distant threat on the horizon; it’s an immediate challenge that demands our full attention. The first salvo has been fired, but the battle for our digital sovereignty is far from over. We — the journalists, you, the reader, businesses and government — must stand firm and claim our future.
When illegitimate forces, hidden under the guise of transformative innovations and conveniences, attempt to steer us towards an unchosen destiny, we must assert our will and protect the values we hold dear.
• Motsoeneng is Business Day acting editor.
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