Officials from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have met with representatives from digital platform providers Google and Facebook to discuss the publisher rights regulation.
“Yes, I have officially met with Google and Facebook, alright. We invited some platforms, but only Google and Facebook came. And indeed, we gave them an opportunity to give inputs on the draft (regulation),” Director General of Information and Public Communication at the ministry Usman Kansong informed here on Monday.
He did not disclose the details of the matters discussed during the meeting, but said that the two companies listed the items in the regulation that they agreed and disagreed with.
He said that those inputs will be discussed further. “Their inputs, some will be discussed, too. Not everything can be accommodated, alright,” he added.
The draft of the publisher rights regulation will still need to be discussed with other stakeholders, such as press organizations, the Law and Human Rights Ministry, State Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, and digital platform managers.
Currently, the government is preparing the regulation.
There will be two main aspects covered in the regulation, the first being cooperation among digital platforms, such as Google, Meta, Twitter, and the national mass media.
The digital platforms will be required to establish cooperation with media companies through negotiation, which will result in a business-to-business equivalent agreement should they wish to display content from the latter.
The second aspect pertains to a distinct agency that would function as an entity to oversee, control, and mediate both parties, that is digital platforms and media.
The Communication and Information Ministry has recommended that the Press Council serve as the agency in question since it has been carrying out the functions of monitoring, regulating, and controlling the national mass media since its inception.
