The ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on Wednesday held an inter-ministerial meeting with various departments to discuss issues regarding revenue sharing between Big Tech companies and digital news publishers, according to sources. The meeting - chaired by I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju - invited senior officials from the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), Competition Commission of India (CCI), ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) and departments of promotion of industry and internal trade, legal affairs and consumer affairs.
The Competition Commission of India has ordered a probe into complaints against Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the online news market.
Fair trade regulator CCI on Friday ordered a probe against Google for its alleged abuse of dominant position. "In a well-functioning democracy, the critical role played by news media cannot be undermined, and it needs to be ensured that digital gatekeeper firms do not abuse their dominant position to harm the competitive process of determining a fair distribution of revenue amongst all stakeholders," CCI said. It added that the Commission is of prima facie view that Google has violated provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 which pertains to abuse of dominant position.