South Africa’s Competition Commission has called for Google to pay local news media between R300 million ($16 million) and R500 million ($27 million) annually for three to five years. This demand comes from a provisional report released today after a 16-month investigation into how digital platforms affect the media industry in the count

Apart from Google, the commission equally named X, Meta Platforms, and other tech companies, warning that if they do not comply with these terms, it might push for a 5-10% levy on their earnings to support local media.

The report accuses tech giants of hurting South African news outlets by taking ad money and traffic without making fair payments.

For Google, the commission wants changes to its search engine to fix what it calls an “imbalance in shared value.” It said, “This includes the removal of search bias in favour of foreign media and YouTube and the promotion of vernacular and community media.”

For Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Trends and WhatsApp, the commission demanded, “Meta to stop de-prioritising news on Facebook ‘to restore referral traffic to the media from its peak with at least a 100% increase in referral traffic.’” It also told Meta and Elon Musk’s X to “cease de-prioritising news with links in the user feed.”