A report by the Competition Commission has revealed that major global platforms including Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, X and AI companies, dominate key gateways that South Africans use to access news and information.

The final Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry Report notes that the global transition to digital platforms, has severely undermined traditional revenue models and eroded the financial position of news media.

In South Africa, the digital media transition has been characterised by declining advertising revenue and paid subscription limitations.

These have led to shrinking newsrooms, closed bureaus, and constrained reporting capacity. The Competition Commission’s James Hodge elaborates, “The media doesn’t get fair compensation for their content from the digital platforms and the digital platforms use that content to themselves generate revenue. So, the recommendation and remedies we’ve agreed with the platforms is really to try find ways the media can raise their revenue generation and improve how much revenue they get from digital news they distribute through social media search and other avenues. So, for Google with the National media contracts for Google news showcase which allows the media to monetise that content on Google, including the SABC.”

Today, the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry, initiated under section 43B(1)(a) of the Competition Act, released its Final Report. (1/4) #MDPMI #MediaInquiry #MarketInquiry #DigitalMarkets pic.twitter.com/vPcuSo925q

— CompComSA (@CompComSA) November 13, 2025

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