(AFP press release)
Google has agreed to pay more than $40 million to South African media outlets, many of which are struggling in the digital age, the country's competition authority announced Thursday, accusing the California-based giant of disadvantaging local media.
The US company, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has agreed to provide 688 million rand ($40.4 million, €34.8 million), the South African Competition Commission said in a final report following a 16-month investigation, which found that Google searches favored international news at the expense of local media.
In February, the commission recommended that Google pay up to $27 million a year for five years. The agreement with the American giant provides for a single payment of $40.4 million.
"Google will also introduce new tools for users to prioritize local news sources, provide technical assistance to improve website performance, and share enriched audience data," the commission added on Thursday.
Its subsidiary YouTube has also agreed to support monetization, which allows direct revenue
to be generated from content published on a channel, the competition authority said.
Google and YouTube have also committed to removing algorithmic biases that favor foreign media, according to the same source.
The directive may be subject to appeal, the commission said.
Similar financing agreements have been reached by Google
in countries such as Taiwan, Canada, Australia, and the United States in response to growing pressure
from governments for greater regulation.
In South Africa, the Chinese platform TikTok has agreed to provide new tools, including allowing media outlets to insert links into videos to monetize external content.
Platform X, owned by South African billionaire Elon Musk, has not reached an agreement in that country and has been ordered to make all its monetization programs available to local publishers and to organize training workshops.