Business relationships, as a matter of principle, ought to be complementary. But the ties between Big Tech — Google and Facebook being its two principal representatives — and the indigenous news industry are far from even. It is this imbalance in terms of market share and revenue that lies at the heart of the global pushback against Google and Facebook through affirmative legislation. Australia has become the first country in the world to frame a legislation, the News Media Bargaining Code, to address the anomaly by forcing the two technology behemoths to pay for news content and share revenue in a fairer manner. There is evidence in support of such course correction. The dominance of Google and Facebook on internet traffic has enabled these companies to gobble up a disproportionate share of advertising revenue — as much as 70 to 80 per cent according to some estimates — in their favour, starving news publishers of much needed funds. The Australian law seeks to address this skewedness, even though critics suggest that late changes to the draft have gifted Facebook an escape clause. What is undeniable is that a global momentum has been generated as a result of Canberra’s move. Canada is in talks with Australia to frame a similar template of redistribution; corrective action is likely to be bolstered in the European Union — France has taken the lead here — as well as in the United States of America.

Strangely, India — one of the biggest markets for the digital giants — has not witnessed similar demands for equity so far. The Centre, which has not hesitated to challenge these corporations for their alleged indifference to India’s compliance edifice, must side with domestic news outlets in this battle to balance the scales. Such an intervention is necessary not only because there must be a level playing field among competitors but also the news industry plays a critical role. It is a custodian of the democratic ethos and is responsible for the dissemination of correct information. But these functions are being hampered with the drying up of revenue, leading to an existential crisis for the industry and its personnel. New Delhi must explore ways to bring about a compatible, equitable partnership between news organizations and Big Tech that can benefit the stakeholders. The government has an additional incentive to act. A profitable domestic news industry would be more amenable to cough up taxes than bullish tech firms.