On April 15, 2021 professors Taylor Owen and Anya Schiffrin led a discussion with Australia’s Rod Sims, the architect of the controversial Australian News Media Code which requires Google and Facebook to pay for news. Can the Code be replicated in other countries? Should it be? How should it be adapted to ensure the Code helps independent news and not just large media houses? Is there a danger of capture if Google and Facebook start handing out large amounts of money to journalism outlets around the world.
Joining this discussion were Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, Rod Sims, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, Tembinkosi Bonakele, South Africa’s Competition Commissioner, and Isabelle de Silva, President of the French Competition Authority.
This event was sponsored by the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, SIPA’s Technology, Media and Communication Specialization, the European Institute, and the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.