[Breaking] Govt Mulls Law To Protect Indian Media From Tech Giants

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), on Saturday, made it clear that the Indian Government is coming up with a law to protect the media companies from the social media giants. For the uninitiated, Social media companies thrive on quick information sharing. That also makes these websites a place for exchanging and consuming news. 

What's the Catch

Ever wondered how a microblogging website like Twitter became a top social media channel? If one thinks about it, Twitter is unlike its counterparts, Facebook and Instagram but its popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years. If a layperson looks deeply at the model of how Twitter runs, he will come across a pattern. Be it trending stories or alleged fake posts, the success of Twitter lies in quick and easy information exchange. 

That's not all; reports suggest that most users use Twitter as a news source. And the same pattern is seen on other social media platforms as well. 

While getting headlines from social media sites is a big plus for the users and the tech companies (read profits and advertisements), the media companies more often than not become disadvantaged in the scheme of things.

The profit paradox

At a time when Indian media is recovering from the pandemic hit revenue crunch, it is nothing short of a paradox that such media companies are not able to monetize their data. Ultimately, the media companies are the creators of original content in their tug of war with social media companies. 

While the Indian Government is aware of the predicament, it is equally aware that taking on the social media giants on the aspects of revenue sharing is going to be an uphill task. But the Government can learn from the experiences of countries that have already done it. That is the silver lining.