The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting clarified that it has “not endorsed” the request of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for sharing advertising revenue by companies like Google, Facebook, etc, to compensate Indian newspapers for using their content.
Minister Prakash Javadekar, said in the Lok Sabha in response to a question of whether the government proposes to bring legislation on this issue, said, “There is no proposal for enactment of a law by the Government in this regard.”
He further, said in a response to whether the government receives revenue from companies like Google for the Indian news published in print and electronic media per the global practices informed the house that the government earns GST as per applicable rates for the publishing industry and that there is no proposal for enactment of a law by the government in this regard.
Javadekar in February said that the government is monitoring the developments in Australia and other markets like Singapore, European Union concerning making tech companies like Google and Facebook pay news publishers for using their content.
Earlier the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) asked Google to compensate Indian newspapers for using their content. INS president L. Adimoolam had asserted that Google must increase the share of publishers share in advertisement revenue to 85%.
INS stated, over the past year, publishers across the world have been raising the issue of fair payment for content and proper sharing of advertising income with Google. INS noted that Google has recently agreed to better compensate and pay publishers in the European market.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has also previously urged the government to enact laws to make tech giants like Facebook and Google pay for news content they have been using freely.
Sushil Kumar Modi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, said, “The media industry invests a huge amount of money for their reporters, correspondents, and various equipment. It has been disseminating credible news yet Google ends up earning profits.
“In Australia, the government has asked these tech giants to pay for the news content they’ve been using freely. It wasn’t easy, though. They’re super monopolies and big companies, yet, Australia did it,”
“The Indian media is facing a major financial crisis because of the loss of revenue and pandemic. I’ve asked the government to enact laws to make these tech giants pay for news,” Modi added.