KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The Communications and Digital Ministry said today it intends to initiate engagement sessions with tech giants on how to channel parts of digital advertisement revenues back to media companies.
Speaking during Parliament’s Minister Question Time, its deputy minister Teo Nie Ching said this is part of the ministry’s direction.
“We understand the challenges faced by the publication agencies, because now many advertisement revenues, all go to tech giants, such as Google and other search engines.
“It is the ministry’s intent to start engagement with these tech giants so that maybe we can emulate other countries — with a formula — whereby the advertisement or revenues, parts of it could be channelled back to the media companies,” Teo told the Dewan Rakyat.
She was responding to a supplementary question by PAS’ Tumpat MP Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi who asked how the government plans to address financial woes faced by several publication companies in the country.
Mumtaz however did not reveal which publication companies are currently facing financial pressure.
In 2020, Malaysian newspaper publishers had banded together to initiate a move to force international technology companies such as Google and Facebook, to share advertising revenue they have accumulated largely at the expense of traditional media.
In a report by the New Straits Times, the move was undertaken by the Malaysian Newspaper Publishers Association (MNPA) following a landmark decision by the Australian government to force Google and Facebook to share their advertising revenue with local media firms.
In December 2021, a law was passed by the Australian government where digital platforms like Meta and Google are required to pay local media outlets and publishers to link their content on news feeds or in search results.
