Enact law on lines of Australia to make Facebook, Google pay Indian publishers: Demand in Rajya Sabha

News Network

March 17, 2021

New Delhi, Mar 17: Taking a cue from Australia, India should enact a law to make tech giants such as Facebook and Google pay local publishers of news content, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi demanded in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention, the former deputy chief minister of Bihar said, "The government must make Google, Facebook and YouTube pay print and news channels for the news content they are using freely."

The Indian government should take a cue from the Australian parliament that passed the world's first law last month to ensure news media businesses are fairly remunerated for the content they generate, he said.

"I would urge the government of India that the way they have notified Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code to regulate social media and OTT platforms, they should enact a law on the pattern of Australian Code so that we can compel Google to share its revenue with traditional media," he added.

India, Modi said, should take the lead in making Google and Facebook pay a fair share of their earnings from domestically produced news content on the internet to the publishers.

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu remarked that the suggestion is "worth considering".

Modi said the traditional print and news broadcast media, whose content is freely available on platforms run by the tech giants, are passing through their worst phase in recent history as advertisements have shifted to tech platforms.

"They are in deep financial crisis. Earlier, it was because of the pandemic and now it is because of tech giants like YouTube, Facebook and Google," he said.

The traditional news media, Modi said, make heavy investments employing anchors, journalists and reporters who gather information, verify it and deliver credible news.

But advertisement, which is their main source of revenue, has in the past few years shifted away from them with the advent of tech giants like Google, Facebook and YouTube, he said.

"Advertising earnings are going to these tech giants (and) because of this print media, news channels are passing through a financial crisis," Modi said.

"I would urge (that) we should follow a country like Australia which has taken the lead by enacting a law -- News Media Bargaining Code -- by which they have compelled Google to share advertisement revenue with the news media," he said.

Google threatened to blackout news from its portal but ultimately surrendered, the BJP leader said.

"Australia has set a precedence and now France and other European countries are making laws for advertisement revenue sharing," Modi said.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Adani Group in Crisis: $30 Billion Wiped Out after US Bribery and Fraud Charges Emerge

News Network

November 21,2024

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

Comments