South Africa: RSF contributes to major advancement towards the right to reliable information as Competition Commission hones in on unregulated AI
The South African Competition Commission has accused Google and Meta of anti-competitive practices toward the media. The Commission has proposed an ambitious regulatory framework aligned with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recommendations to amplify journalistic content — an approach that could inspire democracies seeking to regulate tech giants.
The Commission’s preliminary report, released in late February, offers a comprehensive and damning assessment of digital platform practices, including, Facebook’s relegation of news content, Google’s search engine monopoly, an overall lack of remuneration for creators of profitable content and unbalanced negotiations between the news media and AI developers. By recognising the “positive externalities” of journalism for the South African public, the Commission noted that platforms gain competitive advantages from the presence of journalistic content — enabling them to better capture the attention of users. This view contrasts sharply with that of Google, which deems the commercial value of journalism negligible
The Commission’s final report will include policy recommendations and while RSF supports thepreliminary conclusions, the NGO also voices concern: the tech industry may once again seek to weaken the legislation, as it did with the European AI Act’s Code of Practice.
“The South African Competition Commission has delivered an inspiring preliminary report that clearly recognises journalism’s value in the content circulating on online platforms. The text demonstrates a deep understanding of the difficulty in building viable funding models for online outlets in an environment dominated by a few unregulated actors. Its conclusions lay the groundwork for a democratic, ambitious regulatory approach to social media and generative AI in South Africa and beyond. It is encouraging to see a public authority acknowledge that these companies bear responsibility for the quality of the information they make accessible. RSF urges the Commission to strengthen its recommendations by drawing on our input, which helps focus the public debate on the real-world issues facing journalism, media freedom and the right to information.
RSF Recommendations to the South African Competition Commission:
1. Oblige platforms to increase the visibility of reliable information sources
Major digital platforms play a central role in access to information. They therefore carry a responsibility to the world’s democracies: to ensure the visibility of trustworthy information sources. Their commercial logic must not obstruct the dissemination of quality journalism — especially on matters of significant public interest.
2. Promote outlets certified by the JTI
Platforms should prioritise visibility for sources recognised as reliable based on transparent criteria, such as the requirements outlined by the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI). This ISO-type certification developed by RSF identifies media outlets that uphold professional and ethical standards. Promoting such systems strengthens public trust and the quality of online information.
3. Redistribute advertising revenue
Dominant platforms must share part of their advertising revenue with media outlets that produce independent, public-interest journalism. This redistribution is essential to support a diverse media ecosystem and ensure citizens’ right to quality information.
4. Ban unilateral experiments to remove press content
Platforms must not be allowed to reduce the visibility of press content without consultation — for instance, by removing it from search results or news feeds — especially in response to proposed legislation. These practices — which have already been executed by by Meta in Australia and Canada and Google in nine countries, including seven in Europe — harm media diversity and the public’s right to reliable information. In France, RSF successfully joined the union for press magazines (SEPM) in filing a lawsuit to stop such an experiment.
5. Require explicit consent for the use of journalistic content in AI systems
News outlets must have the option to choose whether their content is used in databases that train AI systems. An opt-in model must replace the current opt-out by default.
6. Require collective negotiation for fairly distributing revenue
AI developers must be required to negotiate with media outlets as a collective to define fair compensation for the use of journalistic content.
7. Require that sources be referenced and linked to
Chatbots and AI tools should only access journalistic content if they clearly redirect users to the original source via a clickable link.
8. Require platforms to promote credible and diverse sources
AI systems must be designed to prioritise content from a plurality of professional, credible sources, reflecting the diversity of opinion in democratic societies.
9. Require platforms to undergo independent risk assessments
AI developers must conduct independent assessments of the social and democratic risks posed by their products, especially regarding the reliability and diversity of the information they distribute.
10. Encourage ethical AI use in newsrooms
Media outlets should adopt the ethical principles laid out by the Charter on AI and Journalism, created by UNESCO and RSF. AI tools are a welcome means to enhance journalism — as long as it is governed by clear usage policies, public transparency, and human oversight at every stage of production.
