Social media companies must share revenue with creators: Vaishnaw

Social media platforms must share revenue in a fair manner with content creators including news media, influencers, professors, researchers, and others, electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday. Speaking at the digital news publishers association (DNPA) conclave, Vaishnaw said every user, including those in remote areas, who are disseminating their work using social media platforms need to be paid a share of revenue.

"Everywhere the principle now has to be set right and there has to be a fair share of revenue with the people who are creating the content," Vaishnaw, who is also minister for information and broadcasting, stressed.

The minister's latest comment comes months after the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had proposed that artificial intelligence (AI) firms pay a portion of their earnings towards royalties to content creators, whose data the developers use to train AI models.


On Thursday, Vaishnaw said platforms should also ensure synthetically generated or AI content is not used without the consent of citizens whose face, voice or personality is being used. "How can a video of a famous news anchor be generated without consent, how can an IT industry leader's video appear without his consent asking people to do something. This is not acceptable. Consent must be mandatory," he remarked.

Platform responsibility

Vaishnaw stressed that all digital platforms must take responsibility for the content they publish, in order to not erode the confidence that human society has on institutions. "Platforms must wake up, must understand the importance of reinforcing trust in the institutions which human society has created over thousands of years. Platforms must take the responsibility for the content that is hosted by them," the minister said. Non-adherence to these principles will definitely make platforms responsible since the nature of the internet has changed now, he argued.

"Today, it has become a powerful media outlet. And like media organisations, platforms must take responsibility. The time is gone when platforms could say they are not responsible for content. Those times are gone. Platforms have changed from being pure intermediaries, to becoming hosts to the world," he said.

Remarking that platforms must take responsibility for the rising phenomenon of deepfakes, fake news and misinformation, Vaishnaw said these pose serious risks to society and democratic institutions. He also connected this to the need for safeguarding the online safety of children and vulnerable groups. "The time has come to make that big inflectional change. I will request the platforms to cooperate with this basic need of human society. The society which is today asking for this change, has to be respected," he said.