South Africa: Published Terms of Reference for Competition Commission’s Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI)

On 15 September 2023, the South African Competition Commission published the final Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) to examine whether digital platforms that distribute news media content and associated advertising technology (Adtech) markets distort, impede or restrict competition resulting in adverse effects for the news media sector of South Africa. The digital platforms that will be investigated include search engines, social media platforms, news aggregator websites and applications, video-sharing platforms, and generative AI services, such as ChatGPT. The inquiry will focus only on businesses within the South African news media sector including news publishers and broadcasters. Following the publication of the final ToR, the Competition Commission will formally commence the inquiry within 20 days.