Monopoly of Big Tech Companies on Internet is Concern for Government

The central government has said that the dominance of big ad-tech companies on the Internet is a matter of concern. These companies include internet search engine Google and social media platform Facebook. Regulators in some other countries have taken steps against the monopoly of these companies.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the model of revenue sharing between digital news publishers and big tech companies is similar to these Companies India is inclined towards the US and this is a matter of concern for the government. He said that there has been a big change in the country regarding the digital and tech segment. The country is no longer seen as a place to start low-cost back offices, but as an important destination for business. Partner Chandrashekhar said, “We are concerned about the huge imbalance between those who create content and those who help monetize it. From a policy point of view, we want to keep the Internet open. We do not want monetization on the Internet to be in the control of one, two or three companies.”

He said that the Digital India Act will solve the problem of imbalance seen between digital news publishers and big tech companies. Chandrashekhar said, “These big tech companies monitor the monetization of content and this imbalance needs to be legislated or at least regulated.”

Last year, Google had requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the orders issued against the company for misusing its dominant position in the Android market. Earlier, a tribunal had granted some relief to Google in this case and dismissed four out of the 10 orders issued to it. Google has argued in the court that it has not misused its position in the market and should not be made responsible for paying the penalty. Along with this, the company has also sought permission to explain how users and developers have benefited from Android. In this case, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had found Google guilty of misusing its dominant position in the market. CCI had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court and also demanded to dismiss the tribunal’s decision of granting some relief to Google.